


The Proposal

by theatreheathen



Category: Frostiron - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, frosty - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - The Proposal Fusion, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Loki/Tony Stark, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2020-11-27 00:54:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20939603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatreheathen/pseuds/theatreheathen
Summary: Me and a friend who used to write frequently wrote this whole guy! We thought that it'd be fun to fit Tony and Loki into the plot.  We've been meaning to post this for some time, so I hope they don't mind.  Anyways, enjoy!





	1. Assistance

**Author's Note:**

> Me and a friend who used to write frequently wrote this whole guy! We thought that it'd be fun to fit Tony and Loki into the plot. We've been meaning to post this for some time, so I hope they don't mind. Anyways, enjoy!

“_Shit!_”

This was Tony Stark's morning. His eyes fluttering open and having it dawn on him, that it was, in fact, no longer the weekend, but Monday morning. The trusty alarm clock that would usually go off to wake him, so that he could beat his boss into work, had not gone off. Springing out of bed, he started throwing on his watch and various other articles of clothing. He then left his place to start his jog through the busy streets of New York. At the nearby Starbucks, he was greeted by the barista who knew him by his faithful trips every morning. Handing over two to-go cups she wished him luck on his way. Tony would need much more than luck to make it to his office on time. He prayed his boss would spend extra time doing whatever it was that he did in the mornings, to spare him being late.

By the time Tony reached the towering building, he all but ran through the main entrance. He just squeezed through the elevator doors before they closed. Making sure the beverages in his hands were still okay, he then glanced at those around him and nodded.

“Everyone good?” He called out.

Those around him all chuckled but quieted shortly after. Once at his floor, Tony wasted no time in bolting forward from the elevator. This earned him a bemused look from the floors secretary he passed every day.

“Cutting it close huh?” Natasha, who sat at the lobby desk every day, said with a smirk.

“One of those mornings,” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t want to hear it, Nat.” And of course, the distraction caused him to collide with a preoccupied mailroom worker. “Sweet…mother of-” He growled upon impact, ready to deliver a slew of curse words.

Steve, another assistant to one of the other publishers, talking with Nat, raised a brow. “Language.” 

“Jesus!” Tony ended up seething with a smile.

The mailroom assistant that had run into him began to step away. Tony tried not to hear the various giggling around him. It made his blood boil, but he had to grin and bear it. After stopping by his desk where he dropped his jacket off, he hurried off to his boss’s office. There, he set the tea down and with time to spare, he hurried off to his friends’ desk.

Reaching the edge of the wall of the cubical, Tony hurriedly started to whisper to his friend. “Bruce, I need your shirt off your back, like, literally.”

“Heh, what?” His friend pulled his eyes from his screen, brows raised. They fell as they saw the man's tea-stained shirt. “Oh…” He said, failing to stifle a laugh.

Tony closed his eyes and sighed. “Dude, give me the shirt and I will buy you tickets to the big science fair coming to town.”

“The conference?” His eyes lit up. “You'd, you’d take me to the -”

“Yes, yes, I'll pay for the whole weekend and go with you. Now please, your shirt?”

Shortly after this conversation, Tony was rushing off. The man had just enough time to stop at his desk to fetch his jacket, bolt into his boss’s office. The man Tony feared so, entered short of Tony finishing up tying his tie. 

“Morning boss.” Tony greeted as if he wasn't concerned that he'd have a heart attack a moment earlier. “You have a conference call in thirty minutes.

Swiping the cup from his hand, Loki strode straight to his desk and plopped down in his chair. “Spring books, marketing, all that. Yes, I know.” His cold collected voice responded.

“Don't forget your staff meeting at three.” Tony reminded, sorting through their agenda for the day.

Loki just hummed and went about fussing with things on his desk. “Did you call… ugh, what's his name? The one with the crazy eyes.”

“Stephen.”

“Yes, Stephen, exactly.”

Tony nodded, straightening his jacket. “Yes, I did. I told him if he didn't get his manuscript in on time, you wouldn't give him a release date. By the way, you got another call from your immigration lawyer, he's getting pushy abou-”

Of course, Loki had to interrupt. “Cancel the call, reschedule the meeting for some time next week, and the lawyer… well, pull the wool over his eyes or something.” He ordered, rolling his chair over to his computer. “Oh, and I need you to get PR to start working on a press release, Carter is doing Oprah.”

Now _that_ was impressive

“Wow…good work, boss,” Tony commented, his brows raised as he began to leave the office.  
  
“If I needed praise, I wouldn't go to you for it,” Loki muttered as he began to reply to his full inbox of emails. That didn't last long. “Uhm, Tony?” He called out, stopping his assistant in the doorway.  
  
“Yeah, boss?”  
  
“Who’s Christine? And why does she want me to call her?” Glancing back, Tony balked when he spotted the writing on Loki’s, well, his original, cup. In cute girly handwriting, it read ‘Call me, 555-5309 - Christine.’  
  
“Well…that would be because that was my cup, originally.” He explained, hoping that Loki may be able to find the humor in the situation.  
  
Based on the raised eyebrow and the unimpressed expression on his boss’ face, he wasn't having any of it. “And the reason I'm drinking yours is…?”  
  
“Because yours spilled.”  
  
There was no response for a moment, and Tony could only watch as Loki took a sip of the drink. “So, you drink low-fat Irish creme chai tea?”  
  
Tony hesitated. Then, he realized that he couldn't lose respect from someone who already didn't respect him. “Yes… it's like liquid Christmas.”  
  
“Is that a coincidence?” Loki asked. While he held the man under his gaze, he couldn't help but form a sly smirk. Making it quite clear that the only thing he found laughable in this situation, was Tony's misery.  
  
“I'm not sure you'll believe this, but it's not.” He answered, a nervous grin on his face. “Why would I drink the same tea as you? In case the first one spilled? That'd be pathetic. I, at least, respect myself not to stoop that low.” He rambled as he made his way to the ringing phone on Loki’s desk. “Morning, Mr. Laufeyson’s office. Yeah, hey Sif. Mhm, we were getting ready to head to your office.” Hanging up, he glanced over at his boss. “And why are we going to Sif’s office?”  
  
Based on the wicked smirk on Loki’s face, Tony had his answer. And damn, did he feel sorry for Sif. As they made their way to the editor’s office, Tony couldn’t help but question his boss.  
  
“Did you, by chance, read that manuscript I left on your desk?” Tony asked as they made their way to the office of the woman who had no idea what fate had in store for her.  
  
“I glanced at it, it was nothing special.”  
  
Tony let out a sigh. “Can I say something?”  
  
The response was immediate. “No.”  
  
Tony had worked with Loki long enough to know that he could push his boundaries a bit. Only a bit.  
  
“I don't want to even think about the number of manuscripts I've read. But this, this is the first one I've forwarded onto you.” He explained, continuing despite Loki's obvious disinterest. “There is a phenomenal novel in there, the kind of novel you used to publish.”  
  
Loki let out a small huff, shaking his head as he continued in his march. “I don't see it. Oh, and by the way? I do think you drink the same tea as me for the sole possibility that you'll spill it, which is, in fact, pathetic.”  
  
“Or impressive,” Tony argued, under his breath.  
  
“I’d be impressed if you didn't spill the tea in the first place,” Loki replied with a little smirk, stopping when they reached Sif’s door. “Remember,” he began, turning to face Tony, “you are nothing but a prop in there, a minion.”  
  
“I won't utter a word,” Tony reassured, quite used to this. He was Loki’s obedient assistant, a symbol of his power.  
  
With a nod, Loki opened the door to Sif’s office and strode in, a cold grin on his face. And poor Sif, she greeted Loki with a bright smile and a small laugh. “Well if it isn't our benevolent king and his loyal assistant. Please, come on in, boys.”  
  
Loki, ever unphased, glanced around the office as he came in completely. “Is that a new coffee table?” He asked with an arched brow, his gaze directed at an elegant coffee table in the middle of the room.  
  
“Actually, it's a rare Norwegian antique, but yes, it is new to my office,” Sif replied with a playful tone and a proud grin.  
  
“Cute. So, Sif, I'm letting you go.” Loki dead-panned, his expression blank. He had no problem firing this woman.  
  
And damn, did it remove the grin from Sif’s face. “I beg your pardon?”  
  
The boss tore his gaze from the window and moved it to Sif, and that gaze wasn't forgiving in the slightest. “How many times did I ask you to get Carter to do Oprah? How many? And you didn't do it.”  
  
Sif’s once bright face was now dark with a glare. “And I told you that it couldn't be. Carter hasn't done PR since he was in college.” Her voice was beginning to match Loki’s in chilliness, and Tony actually felt a shiver run down his spine. A person who could step up to Loki had serious balls.  
  
“Is that so?” Loki countered, and the tone to his voice made Tony so grateful that it wasn't directed at him. “Because I got off the phone with him, and he agreed to it. You didn't even call him, did you?” Sure it was a question, but Tony knew that Loki already had an answer and required no real response.  
  
“I, I...but..” Sif stuttered, all her typical composure now gone.  
  
Tony’s pity for the woman only grew when he heard Loki’s low, mirthless laugh. “Don't worry, I understand. Carter is a scary man for some people to deal with, you. Now, I'll help you save some face because I'm nice. I will give you a month to find another job, then you can go out there and tell everyone you resigned. Deal? Good.” He finished, leaving no room for discussion as he strolled right back out of the room.

They'd been walking for about a few seconds when Loki leaned closer to Tony and asked, “Update me, what's she doing?”  
  
Tony glanced back over his shoulder, barely able to see Sif inside of her office. And it didn't look promising. “Pacing, presumably panting, I'd be worried.”  
  
“Don't do it, Sif.. don't do it..” Loki mumbled, but they both knew what was coming, which is why Loki wore a bit of a smirk.  
  
“You poisonous bitch!”  
  
Sif's scream came down the hall, effectively silencing the entire office floor. Both Loki and Tony stopped in their tracks.  
  
But Sif wasn't finished there.  
  
“Who do you think you are, firing me?! You can’t fire me! And you think I don't know what you're trying to do?! Everyone here knows it! You're trying to make me look bad about this interview, so you can kiss up to the board and look better! You’re threatened by me! And you’re a monster!”  
  
Tony fought his urge to cringe, almost unable to hide it. Words are worse than physical blows sometimes. He’d never understood how Loki was so unbothered, like solid Teflon. This incident was certainly not the only outlast from employees.  
  
“Are you done?” The editor let out a sigh, his face blank as he listened to all of Sif’s grievances. “Sif, please, if you aren’t done embarrassing yourself, by all means, let’s hear the rest of it.” He encouraged.  
  
Tony failed to hide his reaction, his eyes widening.  
  
“I'm saying things that everyone in this office has thought since you started working here! You...you're the monster parents tell their children about at night! You have no life outside of this job and not a single person enjoys your presence. Yet, that doesn't give you the excuse to make us kneel before you and serve as your personal slaves!”  
  
Tony commended his boss for standing there, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.  
  
“You know, I pity you.” Sif kept ongoing. “I genuinely feel sorry for you, because when you're on your deathbed, miserable and lonely, you're not going to have anybody. You will have nothing and no one.” Sif finished a cruel smirk on her face. “You sit on a throne that you don’t deserve and everyone wants to pull it out from under you.”  
  
Loki let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head, taking a moment before meeting Sif’s eyes.  
  
“Alright Sif, if you're finished.. listen to me.” He cleared his throat, dropping his arms as he stepped forward. “I did not fire you because I am intimidated by you, that's a ridiculous idea, it's almost amusing. No, I fired you because you are lazy, selfish, daft, not to mention incompetent. Oh! I must not forget, you spend more time gossiping in the bathroom than you do working in your office. We all know the person who’s talked about most in this office. How you spend more time looking for cheap hookups at bars than anyone else. And if one more word falls from your miserable lips, I'll have to ask Tony here to have security come to escort you out. And, he will pull out his phone, record it and upload it on that video site, what is it?”  
  
Having found a seat on a vacant desk, Tony’s brows rose as he was drug into this. “Youtube?” He questioned.  
  
“Exactly.” Taking another step forward, looming over Sif, Loki asked. “Is that something you'd like?”  
  
Getting no answer, he stepped back with satisfaction and took it home, with. “No, I didn't think so. Make sure your office is empty by the end of the day. Now, I have work to do.” Turning on the balls of his feet and resuming the walk to his office.  
  
Tony followed his boss. Only looking up when he heard Loki's request before walking into his office. “Have security put that coffee table in my office.”  
  
Tony followed, stopping in the door frame, unsure if his boss was finished talking with him. Then, he heard him speak up before taking a seat at his desk.  
  
“I need you to help review her files and manuscripts this weekend,” Loki requested.  
  
Tony choked out the words, “This weekend?”  
  
Turning over his shoulder to give him a questioning look, Loki asked. “Is that a problem?” His tone left no room for a response.  
  
“No.” Tony shook his head to compliment his words. “No, it’s just… my grandma’s 90th birthday. I was going to head home, but I’ll cancel. It’s fine. It’s –”  
  
Loki was already gone, settled into his seat. He turned around with a creased forehead and a frown at his computer screen. Nodding, he mumbled. “Good talk.”

As Tony took his seat at his desk, his head starting to swim, not even picking up the stacks of papers on his desk. Hardly any of the manuscripts in his many piles were passing through to his boss. He was gracious enough to attach rejection letters to the works that weren’t completely terrible. Yet, he was too impatient to do anything more than toss the worst of them into the trash. He’d need to take out later as it was filling up fast. Thankfully, his desk phone rang and it gave him an excuse to not crack open the manuscripts looming over him. Alarmingly, it was his mother calling. After scolding her for calling his work line, he began to break the news to her.  
  
“He says I have to work, so… I can’t throw this away, Ma,” Loki heard Tony murmuring into his phone. “Yeah, I’m sure he’s pissed, that’s not exactly good news.”  
  
At the same moment, Loki stepped from his office. Only to drop a stack of new manuscripts onto the corner of Tony's neat desk. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he listened to Tony try to save himself by pretending it wasn't family.  
  
“Yeah, uh, huh, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks.” The assistant hung up his phone.  
  
“Was that your family?”  
  
Tony took a deep breath and looked up at Loki with a tired expression. “Yeah,” He confirmed reluctantly, lips quirking politely for only a couple of seconds.  
  
“They tell you to quit?”  
  
“Only every day.” Tony beamed.  
  
Loki hummed. Before he could say anything more, Tony’s phone began to ring again and he picked it up immediately. “Office of Mr. Laufeyson.”  
  
Loki stood still and tall, folding his arms across his chest. Whatever the person on the other line said, they got Tony to nod and agree quickly before hanging up. Loki met Tony’s gaze head-on as the man acknowledged him again.  
  
“Fury wants you upstairs.”  
  
The news he offered got Loki to groan. Tony knew that Loki was friendly with Fury. Or, as friendly as one could be when one is cold and unkind, but he never did like going up to see him during business hours. Nothing good ever came from it.  
  
“Fine,” He muttered, pulling his hair up into a loose bun.  
  
Tony had come to associate this as his boss reaching a point of exasperation. Of which meant he would have to clean up some stress-induced, Loki-sized mess.  
  
“Come get me in ten minutes. We’ve got a lot to do.”  
  
“You got it.”  
  
As his boss strutted away from his desk, Tony took the moment to sink into his chair, letting out a heavy breath.

Roughly ten minutes later, Loki gave his shoulders a nice, slow roll, taking in long, deep breaths before he entered his superior’s office. He didn’t have time for this or the drama that would surely come from whatever they had to say. But, he had no choice, so he marched his way in and made it quite clear that he would like to walk right back out as soon as possible. “Nick, Steve.” He greeted quickly, standing across from the two men awaiting him.

“I heard about the Oprah thing, congratulations, Loki, that’s great news.” Fury praised, knowing that it would get under Loki’s skin to drag this out as much as he could. 

“Oh, of course, thank you..” Loki nodded, not exactly interested in discussing that at the moment. But, he could at least try to remove the tension in the room. “This isn’t about my second raise, is it?” He joked, grinning weakly. “Kidding, of course…”

Fury was having none of it. “Loki… Do you remember when we decided that you were not going to go to the Stuttgart Book Fair because your visa was still being processed, which meant you weren’t allowed to leave the country?”

“Yes... I _do_ remember this…”

“But you decided to go anyways.” Steve butted in, from where he was leaning on a file cabinet behind Fury’s desk. 

Loki slipped a hand into one of the pockets of his slacks and noded. “We were gonna lose Maximoff, I went to save us, yes. So, what!”

Fury sat up a bit, looking Loki dead in the eyes. “It would appear that the United States immigration office does not care who publishes Maximoff.“

Loki sighed and immediately dropped any semblance of composure. “If I didn’t go, we were going to lose Maximoff to Strucker. I think we both know that I had no choice.”

“I just spoke to your immigration attorney,” Fury informed him, his smirk dry and a little sad. “Your visa application was denied.”

“What?

“And you’re being deported.” Steve cut in once more. 

Those words struck fear deep into Loki’s heart, something that most of his underling's thought didn’t exist. He may be cold and rude and harsh and… well, just a total hardass who never cut anyone any slack, but he _did _have the capability of feeling fear. And right now, he was damn terrified.

“No, you must be mistaken…” Loki finally managed to say after he’d processed the information thrown at him. “I’m the boss of this publishing company, I can’t just return to Norway!” He argued, a few black hairs slipping from the neat bun on the back of his head.

The two men sitting across from him didn’t seem to see Loki’s side on this. Fury was the type of man who went home every night to a loveless marriage and was perfectly content with that. Steve, well he’s had about three marriages and each one has been to secretaries, everyone in the office knew about his sexual achievements. 

Fury folded his hands in front of him on his desk. “I’m sorry, Mr. Laufeyson, but your visa is expired. You have to leave the country within the next thirty days. Whether you go to Norway or not is none of my concern, as long as you’re not _here. _This isn’t in our hands, it’s in immigrations.” There seemed to be no wiggle room in his argument. 

He chooses to ignore that statement. “Look, there’s gotta be something I can do.”

“We can reapply, but you’ll still have to leave the country for at least a year.” Fury shrugged. 

The gravity of the situation was starting to set in and Loki felt panic on the rise. “No. No, no, no, no,” Loki began to repeat to himself under his breath, digging his fingers into his styled hair. “There has to be _something_…”

“There’s not,” Steve assured him, looking a little pleased. “Until everything gets resolved, I’m turning operations over to Sif.”

“Sif?” Loki let out a dry laugh. “You mean the woman I just fired?” He asked, trying not to speak through clenched teeth. 

“She’s the only one with enough experience. Listen –” Fury leaned forward in his chair, the concerned one of the two. “If there was any other way, I’d do it. I don’t want to see you leave, trust me. But this is what we’re working with and –”

Just as he was opening his mouth to try and make another stand for his point, there was a knock on the door that gave all of them pause. Turning, Loki’s desperate, pleading eyes turn cold and glaring when he sees Tony poke his head in, an apology etched into his expression. Suddenly, his stare softened, as the solution to all of his problems walked in. 

Tony Stark, Loki’s yesman of a personal assistant. Hopelessly single due to his utter devotion to his work and proving his determination to his boss. He was young too - twenty-three, compared to Loki’s twenty-eight. He was very focused on working his way to the top, even if that meant fetching Loki’s tea every morning. And he was perfect for Loki’s plan.

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered like it’d make him less intruding. “Maximoff's on the line.” Getting the glare from his boss, Tony knew he’d stepped in at the wrong time. Yet, he had already pulled the attention of those in the room. He waited expectantly in the doorway, frowning as Loki made a motion for him to enter the office. His boss’s voice sounded off, and if Tony had learned anything from this job, that’s never meant anything good. Cautiously, Tony stepped over the threshold, wondering if his boss was merely testing him. 

At his hesitant demeanor, Loki directed him by fully turning and giving him a hard look, signaling to the other man to act natural.

Yeah, not happening.

When Tony finally reached Loki’s side, he watched while his boss plastered on a disconcertingly happy smile. It made Tony almost grimace. Thankfully, or unfortunately from Tony’s perspective, Loki reached down and threaded their fingers together, clenching his hand in a vice grip. Tony almost protested with noise but knew he’d receive more than daggers if he let even a peep out. He forced himself to remain completely impassive. 

“Well,” His boss began, tilting his head to the side in that infuriating way he does. “I suppose, then, there’s something we should tell you.”

The fact that Loki had his head on Tony’s shoulder was more disconcerting than both the hand-holding and the smiling. 

Was he getting fired? Oh god. He was getting fired, wasn’t he? 

“We’re getting married,” Loki stated.

Tony almost choked on the very air he was breathing. His throat seemed to close and he could barely remember simple human functions, like how to swallow and breath. 

“Married?” Fury asked, a hint of doubt in his inflection. 

“Married.” Tony watched as Loki confidently affirmed. 

Hell, even Tony would have believed him, if he wasn’t so completely flabbergasted. Yet, Loki’s smile remained plastered on, as they faced the two higher-ups. Tony could only guess what his expression read. 

Behind Fury, Steve raised a brow. “Is he not your secretary?”

Loki’s laugh was almost as fake as his facial expressions. “_Executive_ secretary,” He corrected cheerily. “Executive chief secretary; titles, you both should understand…” He sighed. “All those late nights at the office and weekend book fairs… You know how it is, and even so, it wouldn’t be the first time someone fell for a secretary, now would it, Steve? Remember _Bucky_, huh, oh, well I do.” He gave the buff blonde male a pointed look that, quite frankly, was disturbing in its carnality. “We’re simply… two people who weren’t supposed to fall in love, but did. And now we’re getting married.”

Tony felt his life flash before his eyes, not believing what was playing out before him. “Married…” He managed, breathless, turning to Loki for help. “We’re…”

Loki began to repeat the word firmly. “Getting-” 

But, once Tony had opened his mouth, he seemingly lost his filter and he continued. “Married.” He repeated his inflection in a weird mix of confusion and statement. 

Loki’s eyes closed for a moment, and he continued pushing out a smile. “Yes, me and you. You and I. We’re getting married.” He explained with a casual shrug, hoping this wouldn’t go down in flames. “You can’t help a love like ours,” Loki explained dreamily and swung their hands back and forth, as if he’d never been happier and was always happy to be in Tony’s presence, and their supposed love. As if all of this was seemingly normal. 

Having such an affectionate touch from an otherwise cold and careless person in his life, Tony’s whole body had to refrain from seizing. The faithful assistant could feel his stomach lurch, wanting nothing more than to throw up, even just a little in his mouth. 

Neither man seemed to notice Tony’s odd slip up of words. All Fury did was hold up his hand. “Great, I’m so happy for you two.” He sighed. “Just, please, make it legal.”

“Yes,” Loki agreed. His voice was almost noticeably higher, at least, to Tony, who could pick up on the nervousness easily, as pathetic as it was. “We will make our way to the immigration office, in that case. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Thank you.”

Tony could hear his boss’s voice, but none of the words were landing in his head by this point. All he could hear in his head, over and over was “married”.

Married…

_Married. _

_Married! _

As in, _married, married, _to _Loki_. Married, married, as in two “I do’s,”, and you may now kiss your bride, _married..._ To his _boss_?

“Come along… Honey.” Loki said, as gently as he could, giving Tony’s hand a light tug.

On a continuous reel of _What the Fuck_?, his boss simply pulled him from the office by the marionette strings Loki had had on him for quite some time. How had it come to this? 

By the time that Loki had dragged him from the meeting room, Tony could hear the buzz of the office space. Simply ignoring the looks and whispers from his coworkers, the best he could, he chooses to put up a determined front, to counter the internal chaos inside of his head. When Loki sat down at his desk and began to work, as if nothing had changed, Tony honestly had no idea what was happening. And really, the brunette man had never been a religious man, but damn he wouldn’t be ashamed to admit that, at that moment, he’d get on his hands and knees, begging to any deity to either kill him or leave him in a catatonic state, so long as this wasn’t his reality.

“I’m… confused,” He managed, slowly regaining coherence, and approaching this with caution.  
  
Loki had the balls to look, of all things, exasperated at him.

“I'm sorry, what?”  
  
“I don’t understand what’s happening.”  
  
“Relax,” Laufeyson muttered, uncapping a highlighter. “This benefits you as well.”  
  
“Yeah, would you mind, oh I don’t know, exactly filling me in on that because… I’m not seeing much of that part.” Tony stated, eyeing the other man seriously, but hoping to not lose his job over it.  
  
Loki rolled his eyes. “They were going to make Sif editor.”  
  
At these words, Tony’s patience, the tiny bit of thread it was still attached by, snapped. “So, _obviously_, that means I marry you.”  
  
Another eye roll. What, was Loki just _testing_ how far he could push Tony before he actually quit? 

“You’ve been my right-hand man for what, seven years? Hm, let’s think about this. Sif and I don’t get along. Without me, Sif has no one to direct that hate at aside from you. Sif would become an editor and would fire you on sight,” The black-haired male exemplified, a look of boredom on his face as if he’d had this type of conversation before. “That would make you jobless and, no doubt, homeless, which would make you realize that you can’t get another job in this economy that doesn’t involve cleaning toilets or some other degrading task. If I were to let you go through with that, you’d have to face the fact that every coffee, spilled or not, every errand, every late-night hamburger run was in vain, Tony. Do you understand? In vain. Are you truly willing to give up all that hard work?” 

Tony could only shake his head. Having not put that much of the puzzle together. 

“Besides…” His boss sniffed and added. “You weren’t saving yourself for anyone special.”  
  
“Uh, I like to think I was—”  
  
“A romantic,” Loki mocked. “How sweet.”  
  
“—Either way, I’m not gonna marry you.”  
  
“Yes, you are.”  
  
“Uh, no, I’m not. It’s _illegal_.”  
  
“Please, they’re looking for terrorists, not book publishers.”  
  
“It’s still not happening.” Tony stood defiant, arms crossed. Screw not wanting to get fired.  
  
“It is,” Loki said, his tone completely certain. “Because if it isn’t, your big, grand pipe dream of eventually touching people with the written word is dead. And not only is it dead, but you’ll be homeless.” With a rather careless shrug, he added. “Not to worry, once the required amount of time has passed, we’ll get a divorce and be done with each other, but until then, like it or not, we are getting married.”


	2. Official

This was not what Tony signed up for when he took this job. Yet, there he was, at the USCIS, about to commit a criminal act by claiming that he’d marry his boss so he could keep his job. Now, Tony was no saint. He’d gotten in trouble with fights in his youth, a few petty things. But a federal offense? That was huge and he was not really eager to put himself on the line for Loki Laufeyson. His job, however, was far too important. So he followed. He followed Loki right up to the front of the line. He quietly apologized to those already in line as they protested. After Loki demanded a fiance visa, he watched as the man behind the counter looked at the paperwork. The worker then gave a grin that made Tony very uncomfortable.  
  
“Come with me,” He flat-lined, a smug look on his face that made Tony want to punch him.  
  
After being led to the back of the building, they were told to wait in a small office space. So, they sat. Well, Tony was sitting, Loki opted to stand by the door, typing furiously on his phone. It wasn't long before Tony started to break out into a sweat. Tony began to think about getting caught, what would happen if someone found out. Not sure about what prison he’d be going to, he knew for a fact that he wouldn't do well. Plus, going on the run would be a little harder.  
  
Finally, there was a knock on the door that prompted Loki to move to the side and a tall, serious-looking man walked in. “I’m Phillip Coulson,” He announced, jerking his head over towards the nameplate on the desk. “Excuse the wait. It’s been a crazy day.”  
  
“We understand,” Loki replied immediately, cool and not the least bit frightened. “And we thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”   
  
Tony supposed that scary people don’t affect each other. Meanwhile, he was trying to stop from trembling.   
  
“Mhm,” Coulson hummed. Even that sounded full of judgment. Tony did not have a good feeling about this. “I’ve got one question for you.” He looked at Tony. “Are you both committing fraud to avoid his deportation? So he can keep his position as editor in chief at Fury & Rogers Books?” He asked, nodding his head towards Loki.  
  
“That’s ridiculous!” Tony found himself saying, an obvious lie.  
  
Not even a second later, Loki added, “Where did you hear that?”   
  
“We had a phone tip this afternoon,” Coulson said calmly, shifting through his paperwork. “From a woman named…”  
  
“Would it be Sif?” Loki interjected quickly, getting Coulson’s unnerving stare focused back on him.  
  
“Sif.” He parrots in affirmation.  
  
Loki only shook his head. “Poor Sif, I’m sorry but she is nothing but a disgruntled former employee. She was very angry today, wasn’t she, sweetheart?”  
  
Tony jolted at the pet name, only having ever been called that by his mother. “Uh, yes. Yes, she was very angry…”  
  
With a click of his tongue, Loki continued. “I apologize for whatever lies she might’ve told you. And we know you’re busy, so if you’d give us our next step, we’ll be out of your way.”  
  
“Mr. Laufeyson,” Coulson stated. “Please, have a seat.”   
  
Tony tried his best not to wince as he saw the tight smile that could be a prelude to murder as Loki took the seat beside him.   
  
“Let me explain the process that’s about to unfold.” Coulson continued with ease. “Step one, a scheduled interview. I put each of you in a room and ask you every question that a real couple would know about each other." He paused, looking between the two. "Step two, I dig deeper. I look at your phone records, talk to your neighbors, interview your coworkers. I’ll look through the trash on your curb if I have to. And if your answers don’t match up at every point,” His eyes darted to Loki before his continued. “You will be deported indefinitely. And you...” He switched back to Tony. “Will have committed a felony and a lovely stay of five years in federal prison.”  
  
If Tony still possessed the weaker lungs of his youth, he was sure he’d be wheezing and in a full-fledged panic attack. As it was, he felt like throwing up, right on the man's desk. He never did do well with authority figures.   
  
It was a heavy decision. That was what made Loki really question if this was something he wanted to go through with. If he wanted to put Tony through this. He could put Tony in charge for a month or two while he got his visa situation in order, and that would be that. But he was too far in at this point. He wouldn’t be able to stand the humiliation. Of telling Coulson that he had lied right to his face and that his assistant, in fact, couldn’t even stand him. So he didn’t.  
  
The two remained silent.   
  
“So, Tony,” Coulson said pointedly, his eyes squinting. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”  
  
This, Tony knew, was his chance to come clean. Tony’s mouth parted and he was about to blurt the truth. Yet, with where the consequences of actually telling the truth would land, he let his mouth shut. Answering this the right way would end it all right then. He’d walk away, a free man, and throw away the risk of going to jail. Yet Loki would get deported. It would also leave him without a job. But, he could always find another? But, he liked his job, no matter how unglamorous it was. He’d be damned if it got thrown away because his boss finally made an unfixable mistake.   
  
Tony licked his lips and ignored the aggressive side-eying coming from Loki. “Mr. Coulson, the truth is… Loki and I are two people who weren’t meant to fall in love but did.” Tony said, reciting the statement Loki had made earlier. He turned his head to see Loki staring at him, lips spreading into a sneaky grin that he then directed at Coulson. He placed a hand over his chest, acting touched by Tony’s words as if he hadn’t been the one to originally say them that day.

Coulson looked completely fed up. This was Tony’s chance to strike.

“We couldn’t tell anyone at work because of the big promotion I have coming up.”

Tony quickly relishes in the surprising way Loki started to mumble. “Your…?”

He held back a smirk as he pressed on. “We felt it would be deeply inappropriate if I was promoted to an editor –”

“Editor?” Loki repeated Tony with raised brows. 

“While we were…” He gestured between them, trying not to seem too uncomfortable. The way Loki narrowed his eyes suggested that he was truly impressed by Tony’s devious act. He enjoyed that a little more than he should have.

“Right,” Coulson droned. “And have the two of you told your parents about this secret love you have going on?”

“I-impossible. My parents are dead. And I haven’t spoken to my step-brother in fifteen years, so.” Loki laughed softly and Coulson smiled, his bullshit detector probably blaring at the casual comment. 

The immigration agent only arched a brow at the pair of them. “Mhm. And what about you?” He directed the question to Tony. “Are your parents dead, too?”

They had to look like quite the sight, pretending to be in love when Loki knew very well that Tony probably spent every moment he wasn’t with his boss talking shit about him. In a moment of panic, he spoke out, to be the first to answer. “No. No, his are very much alive.”

Tony nodded to confirm. “Very much. We were gonna tell them this weekend.” Tony could see Loki snap his head to the side at that, eyes widening. “It’s Nonna’s 90th birthday. The whole family’s gonna be there. Thought it’d be a nice surprise.” Tony finished, smiling at Coulson. 

Loki stared at his employee for a moment, remembering his ruling on the vacation time quite clearly, and he was therefore inclined to give Coulson a bit of a show with a lover’s quarrel. Yet, perhaps now wasn’t the best time, though. So he gave Tony a small smile before nodding in agreement.

Coulson nods and twirled a pen between his fingers. “And where is this surprise gonna take place?”

“At Tony’s parent’s house,” Loki answered again. 

Tony was starting to think that he wasn’t trusted after the whole promotion bombshell but inwardly knew that it was just Loki trying to be in control of things again. 

“Which is where?"

“Well– Tony, you love talking about your family. Why don’t you jump in here?”

“Sitka,” Tony says quietly.

“Sitka,” Loki repeated pleasantly.

“Alaska.” Tony finished, hoping to not get a huge reaction from Loki. 

“Alaska?” His boss questioned, a momentary lapse in composure.

“You’re going to Alaska this weekend?” Coulson demanded.

“Yeah.” Tony chimed in again. “Originally from LA, but when I started high school, they decided they wanted to take the family to a quieter, more family-friendly place. So, to Sitka, we went.” He chuckled, shrugging.

Coulson shook his head in a disapproving manner, but he didn’t let his true opinions out. “Fine,” He huffed as he scribbled on a post-it note. “I get how you’re playing this. I’ll see you both for your interviews at 11:00 am on Monday.” Reaching across the desk, he handed off the post-it, a reminder of the day and time, to Tony. Then, before they made their escape, he finished with a warning. “Your answers better match up. And I _will_ be checking up on you.”

“Thanks,” Loki drawled before his attention zeroed in on his ringing phone, which he departed the room grumbling into. Tony just waved goodbye and left the office, trailing behind his boss. 

Loki seemed all too unphased by the entire meeting with Coulson. In fact, as they walked out of the building, the editor was going on and on about booking flights and getting the vegan meal (even though Tony was pretty sure he’d seen the dude eat plenty of burgers), all while aimlessly looking at his blackberry. Then, his boss had the nerve to get annoyed when Tony wasn’t fishing out his notepad to scribble down his words. 

“I’m sorry, were you not just in that room?” His finger pointed back at the glass doors. 

“Of course I was.” Loki pushed his arm down. “That bit about the promotion was excellent, actually. He completely bought it—”

“I’m serious," Tony interrupted. "I’m looking at a huge-ass fine and five years in prison, that changes things.”

Loki snorted. “It’s not happening.”

“It actually is,” Tony spoke casually. “Or I walk.”

“I won’t make you editor.” His boss’s lips thinned, something Tony knew was a true threat. 

Yet Tony stood his ground. Waving, he spoke matter of factly. “Cool. Bye, Loki, it’s been fun.”

He barely made it two steps before Loki called for him to stop. “Fine,” He grumbled. “You can be an editor. As long as you do the Sitka weekend and the interview on Monday, I’ll make you an editor.”

“Now,” Tony specified. “Not in two years. And you’re gonna publish my manuscript.”

“10,000 copies first run.”

“20,000 copies first run, and we’re gonna tell my family about the engagement when I want and how I want. Also, we’re driving.”

“We’re not driving,” Loki hissed. “It’ll take us days to simply get there!”

“We are driving, and we’re listening to my music while we do it.”

“We’re not and I’ll bump you to first-class with me. It’s not feasible to get there on time if we drive, Tony.”

“Which is why we’re gonna leave tomorrow. Now, ask me nicely.”

“I don’t understand."

“Ask me nicely… to marry you.” Tony said, slowly to emphasize his point.

Loki’s eyes narrowed like he was deeply unimpressed, and Tony’s grin grew to be the biggest he’d had since he started working for the tyrant. It turned into a smirk of satisfaction, when Loki, hot-shot editor, in his Armani pants and oh so expensive Louis Vuittons, got down on one knee, on the grungy New York City sidewalk.

“Does this work for you?” He gruffed. 

“Oh yeah, I like this.” It took everything for Tony not to pull out his phone for a picture. 

“Oh good, that’s good. As long as you’re happy.” Loki grumbled. “Will you marry me?”

“Uh, no. You sound like you’re constipated.” Tony folded his arms, his suit tightening up as he did so. “Ask me...like you mean it.”

Those green eyes rolled so hard, Tony figured they might just fall out of the owner’s head. 

“Fine… Ton-” He started and then corrected himself. “Anthony?”

“Yes, Loki?”

“Sweet, wonderful, attractive Anthony…”

“I’m listening,” Tony added, trying to refrain from laughing. 

“Would you please, with cherries on top—”

“I’m not a fan of cherries. I prefer strawberries.”

“Would you please..” Loki tried again, his voice low, “with strawberries on top, do me the honor of becoming my husband?”

Tony took in a deep breath, thinking it over. “Okay, I don’t appreciate the sarcasm.” He tapped Loki’s nose obnoxiously, nodding through his gleeful laughter. “But I’ll do it. See you at the airport tomorrow.”

Tony didn’t wait for an answer from his boss, for once. Placing his hands in his pants pockets, he began to saunter off into the hustle and bustle of the city. He held his head high, something he hadn’t done for some time, and damn did it feel good. And smiling too! Simply because, and damn, he literally couldn’t stop. He was getting time to go home and his promotion. Of course, tomorrow he’d inevitably be screwed, and everything would most likely go to shit, but for now....

Tony Stark was pretty happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to let there be more time between chapters, but with the bit of responses from yall, i got really excited and posted the next little chunk! I've got the whole thing written out so it'll be a matter of when i remember or have the free time to add some more. buuuut, like always, comments and kudos really help me want to post more often (or as often as my busy job allows me!)


	3. Reunion

“You mean to tell me you know the answer to every single one of these questions?”

Tony took in a deep breath. His knuckles turning white as he wrung them together. Not pathetic. He was not pathetic. Not for knowing that much about his boss. Nope, not at all. Stark was a good employee and doing a little studying on his boss was _not_ pathetic. His brows just rose. “Scary, ain’t it?”

Loki just scoffed. “You can’t know _all_ of these.”

“And yet somehow I do.” The assistant's lips thinned, knowing just how pathetic he sounded. 

“Fine. What am I allergic to?”

Sighing, really not wanting to go there, Tony shook his head. “Shellfish, pine nuts and the entire spectrum of human emotion. Oh sorry, I almost forgot the last one - anyone who isn’t afraid of you.” 

Tony could notice his boss’s jaw clench as he ground his teeth. Yet, when he spoke up, he swallowed down whatever venom was dying to escape his lips. “Funny,” He retorted. “I had no idea you were a comedian. Here’s one: do I have any scars?” 

Pursing his lips, Tony’s eyes closed, regretting this whole conversation. “No, but I’m pretty sure you have a tattoo.”

“Are you?” 

Tony reminded himself that he couldn’t fire him, not if Loki wanted to stay in the states. He took a deep breath and pressed on. Not in a million years would he believe that he’d be talking to his boss, about, well, himself. “Yeah. I think it was… yeah, like two years ago, your dermatologist called and asked about Q-switch laser. Having no idea what the fuck that meant, I googled it. Turns out that a Q-switch laser removes tattoos.” He shrugged. “But, after I told you about the call, you then turned around and canceled your appointment.” Tony couldn’t help but finish with a smirk, having been able to figure out so much about his boss, who normally tried to keep under the radar. Raising a brow, he asked. “So, what is it? Tribal ink? A butterfly? A spring break drunken mistake, oh, I know, an old lover’s name?”

Finally looking at his boss’s eyes, he could tell that Loki was fuming.

“You gotta at least tell me where it is.” Tony offered, hoping to make light of the situation.

“I’m not.”

“Hey, if it were up to me, I’d like to never know that you have a tattoo. But if we’re in love like we say, they’re gonna ask.” 

“Moving on.”

“Loki—”

“Moving _on_.” He used that tone that Tony had nightmares about. “Oh, here we go: whose residence do we stay at? Simple - mine.”

“Woah woah, why yours?”

Loki heaved a rather large sigh, as if the answer was obvious. “Because I live in Central Park West.” He snapped condescendingly. “While I’m willing to bet that you live a little studio apartment in Brooklyn with a stack of yellowed Penguin Classics.”

It was Tony’s turn for his jaw to clench a bit. That wasn’t true, at least, not all of it. He sighed and look forward. Three more hours. Just three more hours.

Exiting out of the plane carefully, not wanting to ruin his very nice shoes, Loki could see Tony's enthusiastic mother and grandmother from afar. In the time it took for him to exit, he noticed that Tony had already run ahead. As he began to catch up, he noticed that Tony's mother was fairly average in height and had gorgeous chocolate hair, which framed her delicate and slender face. Her beauty was a sad reminder to Loki of his own mother. They might have even best friends. Moving his eyes to the next woman waiting to hug the man, his grandmother no doubt, Loki could tell she was even shorter. Her hair was shorter, pinned up and gray, her features older yet one could gain a sense of where the beauty in Maria came from. All in all there was something elegant and aged about her that Loki enjoyed.

“Tony-bear! Look at you!” Mrs. Stark gushed, pulling her son in with her arms. Even so, she still managed to crush him against her chest. 

After holding in a giggle at the nickname she'd called him, Loki took note that Tony towered slightly over his mother. He, as well, thought it endearing how he seemed to soften just at the sight of his mother.

“My baby!” She cheered happily, while she rested her head on his chest.

“Don’t embarrass him!" Nonna chided, but she hugged her grandson just as tight. “Anthony, tesoro!” 

“Hi, Nonna.” Tony kissed her on the cheek and turned back to his mother as Loki crept closer, unsure of what to do. “Where’s dad?”

“Oh, you know,” Maria huffed, smoothing her hands over Tony's shoulders and straightening his collar. “...always working.” 

“Where’s your boy?” Nonna asked, lifting her head to look over Tony's shoulder.

At that exact moment, Loki took his spot next to Tony, offering a small smile to the two women that he could tell were eying him fiercely. 

"Hello.” He greeted, laughing a little nervously.

Maira went in for a hug right as Loki offered her his hand, creating an awkward moment that they managed to make work, with a gentle handshake.

“This is my mom, Maria." Tony interjected, hopeful to cut through the awkwardness. His hand gestured between the two. "My Nonna, as we call her, or, Bernadette.”

“Pleasure,” Loki said, shaking her hand as well.

“Now, do you prefer being called Loki or Satan’s mistress? We’ve heard it both ways. Actually, we’ve heard it lots of ways…” Nonna chimed in, an innocent smile on her lips.

Loki, wearing a look of shock and feeling the emotion just as much, glanced at each of the three quickly. To say that he was speechless for the first time in a long while was an understatement. If Tony had called him that, to his own mother and grandma, what else had he told them? How are they supposed to act like a couple if all this time he'd gone on about how much he loathed his boss?

“She’s kidding,” Maria broke the silence, assuring him with an airy laugh, seemingly unbothered by it all.

“Oh. Okay.” He mirrored her laugh and cleared his throat. “But really, I prefer Loki.”

“Loki, huh? We haven’t heard that one before.”

“Nonna…” Tony groaned.

Loki forced a smile. “Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this weekend.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Maria assured again, her smile much more sincere now, Loki could tell.

Nonna added joyfully, “We’re thrilled to have you!” She hadn’t quite adopted her daughter’s sincerity.

Tony squeezed them both and placed his arms around their shoulders. “Which," Maria began. "Is why we wanted to meet you here. Family doesn’t stay in a hotel, they stay at home. So, let’s go!”

Loki nodded cheerfully until the women turned around, waiting to direct a mean glare at Tony, who simply quirked his lip and brow. Not seeing the point in arguing, Loki just remained quiet as they gathered their luggage. He wished he could have had his own car, take himself to his own hotel room but, Tony wanted to be with family. So that’s what they'd be doing.

The drive from the airport to, what Loki assumed would be Tony's parents’ home, was an enlightening one. It provided little bits of the small town, including the fact that several of the stores, photography, general store, souvenir shop, all shared the name that so happened to match the handwriting on the tag of Tony's luggage - Stark. It didn’t take long before the gears in Loki's head started to turn.

“Tony,” He whispered, his eyes darting to the front seat where his family sat, not wanting to make a scene. After getting no response, he tried once more. "Tony." He landed a forceful whack to Tony’s surprisingly muscular bicep, eliciting a hiss and a glare. Simply rolling his eyes, Loki glared back. "You didn’t tell me about all the family businesses, honey.”

Tony just shot him a look that clearly conveyed ‘don’t start’.

Yet, he did just that.

“He was probably just being modest, dear.” Nonna offered.

All Tony could do was give a smile, cheeks starting to ache, he so didn't want to go there. Thankfully, it didn't take long before they were pulling up to the marina. Tony instinctively got out, knowing the drill of how to get to their home. Loki, however climbed out of the car suspiciously. Why were they at a dock? Where was the house? Not wanting to look stupid, he just started following what Tony was doing - grabbing luggage. He had a bit of trouble on the pebbled ground, the wheels of his suitcase not quite meant to go over the rough terrain.

Nonna frowned at Tony, who was almost on the dock to the boat. "Oh, why don't you help him, Anthony, be a gentleman."

On the spot, Tony blurted, "I would but he doesn't like it when I do. He insists he does things on his own, Nonna. You know, the feminist type."

This seemed to satisfy the older woman, as she continued to make her way to the dock. Tony continued to make his way as well, going to the edge by the stairs to help send down luggage. After Loki passed him his carry on, he tossed it down to his mother. Unfortunately, it was a bad toss and it ended up going into the water. "Oh!" Loki choked out in horror. Not his Prada luggage!

"Oh! Five second rule." Tony said with all too much delight.

"Got it! I've got it!" Maria called, dragging the bag out of the water and hoisting it onto the boat.

Tony, not even trying to hide his smirk, started to descend the ladder. "That'll dry right off." He shrugged and started to go down. As he continued to make his way, he saw Loki peak over the edge.

"Psst, pst." Loki made the noise to draw Tony's attention. "I'm not getting on that boat." He gestured to it, his eyes narrowing.

Tony looked above him. "You don't have to, see you in a few days." Grinning condescendingly, he continued to lower himself.

Loki's brow furrowed. "You know I can't swim!" He whisper-yelled, not wanting to attract the attention of the two women on the boat. 

"Hence, the boat," Tony said dryly and continued to climb down and off the ladder. He stood at the bottom and gestured to Loki. "Come on."

Loki stepped away from the ladder and then simply turned to position himself to start the descent. "Come on, here we go." Tony encouraged. "Looking good, boss." Loki just brushed it off, making sure to take his messenger bag with him as he lowered himself. At about the halfway mark, he heard Tony speak and then promptly felt a hand on his butt. "Just gonna give you a little hand here."

As soon as Loki felt the touch, he froze. "Hand, off ass, off ass!" He snapped. But could Tony really be blamed? It was a nice ass.

Lifting his hand calmly, Tony just stepped back from the ladder. "There you go, you're there." He watched as Loki made it to the bottom, sticking out his leg to make contact with the ground. Once he was on the dock, Tony chastised. "Congratulations, I'm one hundred years old."

The two then joined Maria and Nonna into the boat, where Maria handed Loki a life jacket. It was a kind gesture, but Loki was a little hesitant, not wanting to already be a handful. Yet, his rising fear of open bodies of water prevented him from caring too long. 

The boat ride was, all things considered, pleasant. A little stress-riddled every now and then as the waves rose near Loki, but pleasant. At last, they successfully made it to a small dock, at the bottom of a grassy hill. Exiting the boat and walking along the dock, Loki had to keep his mouth from dropping open at the sight of the house. It grew clearer as they made their way up - a wide neutral-toned house with a lot of shrubbery and stone steps.

As Loki yanked his luggage along towards the door, Maria and Nonna ahead of the two, he took the opportunity to whisper to Tony. “You never told me you were rich.”

“I’m not rich. My parents are.”

Loki just chortled. “That’s something rich people say.”

“Tony, welcome home!” A blurry figure shouted in the distance.

Tony's expression turned startled. “Hey!” He shouted back. Then, a little quieter, he spoke to his mother. “Ma, what’s this?”

“Nothing,” Maria replied innocently. “Just a little welcome home party.”

Nonna jumped in, “Our closest friends and neighbors.” Her wise eyes turned onto Loki's. “And all of them are excited to meet you.”

“Oh, great.” He whipped his head around to look towards Tony. “A party?”

He shrugged casually. “I guess so. Hurry up, my grandma’s walking faster than you.” Biting deep into his tongue, Loki refrained from uttering the vulgar curse words that were very eager to slip from his mouth.

Stepping through the front door was surreal, in a way. One of the first thing he took note of was the music – Michael Buble? He thinks. And, oh! - the decorative banner that reads “WELCOME HOME, TONY!” in big, colorful letters. The air was scented thick with various foods and the many rooms were packed with people, all of whom Tony apparently knew. This was not what Loki thought he'd get into. Two people, servants, of all people, took their bags and coats to place upstairs while Tony and Loki, the latter of which feels completely out of his depth suddenly, are left to mingle.

Suddenly the two were hearing, “Loki, nice to meet you,” and “Oh, Tony, it’s so good to see you again” way, way too many times to count. When they get a moment of rest, around ten minutes in, they began passing from the kitchen into the living room again. Loki just couldn’t shake this whole rich kid thing. So, he demanded to know why Tony had failed to mention being some sort of small-town celebrity after all this time.

“How could I? We were in the middle of talking about you for the last three years.” Tony pointed out, dropping the polite mask he’d worn for the last ten minutes.

Loki instinctively jabbed Tony in the ribs, then grabbed him by the collar to pull him to the side. "Okay, you know what? Time out, okay?" 

Tony looked at Loki, shrugging. But Loki, typical to his nature, pressed on. "Look, this bickering thing isn’t getting us anywhere, okay? We need to make people believe we’re in love. So let’s just...” 

That was when Tony had to cut in. “That, that’s no problem. I can do that, easy. I can totally play the whole doting fiancée. But for you? It’s gonna mean you stop bitching every five seconds and snacking on small children while they dream.”  
  
Loki rolled his eyes. “Very funny. Now, when are you going to tell everyone we’re engaged?”  
  
“I’ll pick the right moment.” The man adjusted his sleeves by pushing them up to his elbows.  
  
“Brilliant. Just like that stunt with the promotion?” Loki asked though it wasn’t much of a question.

  
“Hey, you said it was genius.” Tony retorted.  
  
“I did not.”  
  
“Yeah, you did.”  
  
“Tony, you’re not a genius. You’re an assistant.”  
  
“And now I’m an editor.”  
  
“Not yet.”  
  
“An editor.” A voice came from behind. “Well now, ain’t that fancy.”  
  
Tony’s whole body tensed and he exhaled through his nose. Slowly and shortly, he replied. “Dad.”  
  
“Son.” An awkward pause. “So, this must be Mr. Laufeyson?"  
  
“Loki.” The man, himself, offered, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure, Mr. Stark."

  
Tony found himself happy about Loki being so forward. He wouldn't be afraid to put his father in his place. Yet, he didn't want their personalities to clash, seeing as his father despised the man that hired him, ultimately kept him from home, and also stole him away years ago.  
  
“Call me Howard, please." His father insisted, the ice clinking around in the glass of scotch he held closely. “And the pleasure’s all mine. So, what’s this I hear about Anthony being an editor?”  
  
“Oh, not yet, he's still my assistant for the time being,” Loki answered with a light chuckle.

  
Howard’s smirk can be interpreted as nothing but cruel, Tony knew it all to well from his childhood, and it wiped the smile right off of Loki’s face. “Well, how about that.”  
  
Tony’s smile grew tight. “Dad, we’re gonna get a drink. Come on. Excuse us,” Tony's hand was on his father’s shoulder, pushing him along.  
  
They entered the kitchen, currently unoccupied by other bodies. “Hell of a first impression, Dad.” Tony seethed, letting go of his shoulder. “Thanks.”  
  
“What the hell, Anthony?"

“What?”  
  
Howard looked livid. “You show up after all this time with a man you hated, and what, now he’s your boyfriend? And a _boyfriend,_ for christ sakes! Son, what in the hell…” He shook his head, arms crossing over his chest, a sign of disapproval that Tony hadn't seen since his teenage years. “Just never figured you for a guy who slept his way to the middle.”  
  
Tony was done. One hundred percent was done. Half near growling, he pointed in the direction they'd come from. He didn't know why, but suddenly, he had to defend Loki. How dare his father speak so little of him. “Just an FYI, that man in there is one of the most respected editors in the country. He’s pract—”  
  
“He’s your meal ticket, and you brought him home to meet your mother! Make her happy, I don’t know-”  
  
“Nah,” Tony gruffed, finally knowing something that his father didn’t. He wanted to hold it above his head and make up for all the years that Howard held his own knowledge above his only son’s head. Yet, he was pissed, and he wanted nothing more than to get under his father’s skin. Only this time, he was asking for it. “Nah, he’s not my meal ticket, Dad. He’s my_ fiancée_.”  
  
“What did you say?” Howard's voice was freakishly calm.  
  
For the first time in his life, he finally left Howard Stark speechless. In any other setting, he'd be bouncing up and down cheering, but this was different. This was _very_ different. “You heard me. I’m getting married.” Tony said plainly and then strode into the den and started to pull everyone's attention.  
  
"Everybody? Hey, hi, can I get your attention? Thanks. Thank you.” Tony didn't give two fucks. All he knew was his father had enraged him. “I'm really happy you're all here, it was a surprise, but it turns out that I have a surprise for you.” He had to prove a point, he had to sell it home. “The truth is… Loki and I are engaged.” The brunette began to search the room. “Yeah, so…uh, Lokes? Babe, where you at?"

Suddenly he saw the man's raven black hair pop out from around the corner. He grinned and waved his hand for Loki to join him at his side. Carefully, Tony noticed, Loki began to make his way to Tony’s side. Tony could tell he was trying not to lash out at Tony’s little term of endearment and pet name. 

The next few minutes became a whirlwind of congratulations and happy smiles, but it wasn’t until a gorgeous, blonde haired bombshell came along that everything felt like things would go to hell. 

“Tony!” Her voice cheered. 

The man heard his name and turned over his shoulder. “Oh my god! Pep? What are you, I didn't expect to…” 

“Well, yeah. Your mother wanted it to be a surprise.” The two laughed and embraced each other in a hug. 

“Well, I’m– I’m definitely surprised. Wow.” Tony said, his brow high, eyes wide, and a dopey smile on his lips that he directed to Pepper. "H, how are you? How are things?"

It made Loki feel twitchy, the way they talked and interacted.

"Good, I'm, I'm still here, teaching..." She then trailed off and it was as if Pepper could pick up on Loki's behavior because she chose that moment to acknowledge him. "Wow, and we're being so rude." She looked to Tony and then back to Loki, her bright red lips twisting into a pleasant smile. She offered her hand and gave a firm shake.

"Right Loki," Tony nodded slowly. "This is Pepper. My ex…” Loki side-eyed him, and Tony couldn’t tell if Loki was more upset about being forgotten or having to interact with another guest.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Loki,” She grinned. “And congratulations on the engagement. Which reminds me, did I miss the story?”

“Story?”

“What story?”

She giggled at their synchronized questions. "Of how Tony proposed, of course.”

They hadn’t discussed this. Why hadn’t they discussed this? Loki looked to Tony, trying not to come off too lost or afraid, but was only met with the matching expression on Tony's face.

“Oh, how a man proposes says a lot about his character.” They both look to Nonna, who was seated comfortably on the couch beside Maria, a twinkle in her eye.

“I’d love to hear the story, Tony,” Maria added, her expression full of hope. “Won't you tell us?”

“Oh…” Loki began to trail off, hoping more than anything that Tony had the guts to decline his mother's wishes because Loki certainly didn't.

But Tony, the little shit, just gripped Loki's shoulders, giving them a hard squeeze, and replied, “Yeah, of course. But you know what? Loki just loves telling this story. So, sweetheart, take it away."

All Loki could think of were varying ways to say “Fuck you, Tony Stark” but none of those were going to help him out of this situation. He was going to have to try and get creative. “Well…where do I begin? Um–” Thoughts were zooming around his head, lies slotting themselves into place so he could spew them with as much ease as possible. He knew nothing of proposals, nor where to start to explain one. Didn't people just get on their knees, and the other said yes? He wouldn't be kidding anyone and prayed Tony wouldn't let him flounder. "Okay, well, Tony and I were about to celebrate our first anniversary together.”

At the chorus of awh’s he received, Loki got a surge of confidence. He figured these people would eat up any romantic nonsense he could manage, so he pressed on. “And I knew he wanted to ask me to marry him, but he was just so scared, just like a little baby bird.” He chanced a glance at Tony, who clearly did not enjoy where this was headed. “So, I started leaving hints, you know, hoping he'd catch on because I knew he wouldn’t have the guts to ask, but-”

“That’s not exactly how it went,” Tony interrupted.

Loki simply raised his brow. “No?”

“I mean,” Tony shifted on the arm of the couch to peer down at his mother and grandma, “I picked up on all his "little" hints." He looked up to those around and shrugged. "Loki's about as subtle as a gun.”

Everyone laughed, causing Loki to bite at his tongue. Tony continued on. "What I was worried about was that he’d find this little box –”

“And I did,” Loki countered and then continued, now on a roll. Quickly, and in a stage whisper that got everyone chuckling. “Tony is terrible at hiding things, especially from me." Giving a grin towards Tony he pressed on. "So, I was curious and I opened the box and out popped all of this heart-shaped confetti," Loki spoke with his hands and he heard the gasps from the woman sitting around. Oh, he _so_ had them. " I really don’t know how he got that to work, but Tony’s nothing if not creative. So, anyway, when I pulled out all those pieces of paper, I found the most beautiful, big –”

“Fat nothing,” Tony cut in quickly. “No ring.”

Loki just glared, but followed his lead with a tight nod and a hum of, “No ring.”

“Instead, underneath all that crap was a piece of paper with the address to a hotel, room key, a date and time." Tony panned his audience, nodding to mainly the men around him. “Real Humphrey Bogart stuff." Gaining acceptance with grunts and "Yeahs!" from the males. "And you know, when Loki saw that, he thought –”

“-That Tony was seeing someone else,” Loki spoke somberly.

“What?” Tony yelped.

Loki nodded gravely. “It was a really rough time for me. I mean, I love Tony so much, and to think…” He shook his head and exhaled deeply, playing it up now that he knew what game they both were playing. “So I went to that hotel and I banged on that door, but it was already unlocked, and as I opened the door, I saw him-”

“Standing.”

“Kneeling,” Loki corrected smugly. “On a bed of rose petals.”

Tony's blush was so evident, Loki couldn’t stop himself. "Your son,” He cooed to Maria, eyes alight, with her hand touching her chest absently, “is the sweetest man I’ve ever met. There were tears in his round brown eyes when he said to me –”

“‘Loki, will you marry me?’ He said yes, and that was that. I’m hungry. Is anyone else hungry?” Tony rushed, hoping to move on.

Loki snickered under his breath, but Tony, of course, caught it and stood to take his position at Loki's side, his hands shoved nervously into his pockets. He wanted nothing more than to drag him off to another room to tear into him. Yet…

“Oh, honey,” Maria choked, embarrassing Tony further and amusing Loki even more. “You’re so sensitive.”

A guy, a man Tony used to go to school with, standing near the fireplace, began clinking his champagne glass and demanded, “Hey, let’s see you two lovebirds kiss!”

“Oh, alright, uh –” Tony grabbed Loki's right hand and placed a chaste kiss atop it, holding it in the air while Loki offered a smile, almost fondly. And what a revelation that was.

But his little display wasn’t good enough for the rowdy crowd because then they began chanting, “On the lips, man!" "Kiss him," "kiss, kiss, kiss!" "kiss him, kiss him!” Even Maria and Nonna joined along, both too happy to pick up on the panic Loki and Tony were emanating.

“Okay!” Tony hastily agreed, clearing his throat and tugging at his collar nervously, he turned to Loki, who was already turned to face him. The two of them tried to communicate through their eyes, trying to figure just how this was supposed to happen.

Tony leaned in first, flinching back a little when Loki leaned in too, and then, with both of their eyes open, they pressed their lips together and held them there for mere seconds before pulling back with brows raised.

"Mwah!" Tony exaggerated, praying their peck would suffice.

“Yay!” Loki cheered dryly, holding his fists in the air in a celebratory fashion. Tony began tugging at the hem of his own shirt.

“Tony." Nonna chastised, clearly not pleased with what she had seen. “Give him a real kiss!”

Loki's smile dropped and his insides started to churn as he realized that they’d actually have to sincerely do this. Otherwise, Tony’s friends and family would not be satisfied, let alone believe them. If they couldn't bare to kiss, he didn't blame them for getting suspicious. They'd have to get their act together.

This fact was prominent because when his eyes met Tony's, both of their expressions softening but still retaining an edge of seriousness, he knew that the man was thinking the exact same thing. The man's palms were sweating and the back of his neck was warm. Tony was doing a good job of keeping whatever he was feeling – dread, most likely – in check.

Suddenly they slotted their mouths together, Loki finding himself slightly taken aback with a surprised sound at how aggressive Tony swooped in, pushing their chests together and wrapping an arm around Loki’s waist. They kissed and pulled away to watch each other with half-lidded eyes, noses scrunching uncomfortably, trying to mumble things while the others clapped. Loki didn’t know what Tony was saying - hell, he didn't even know what _he_ was saying because everything seemed to shift. When their eyes met again, Loki's body grew warmer and he found himself going a little slack. Then, oh god _then_, he could feel the sparks and knots twisting in his belly. His eyelids fluttered shut. His lips parted a bit, on their own accord, inviting Tony back in, and Tony delivered, so, so nicely.

Loki's arm rose and his fingers curled around Tony's forearm before they broke apart. They were left in a crowd of cheers, looking at each other in shock. Maybe Loki was imagining it, but he was sure he saw a look of awe on Tony's expression as well.

Whatever the case, the crowd was more than pleased and the deed was done. They stepped apart, putting more distance between themselves with Loki trying his best to breathe, even just a little.

* * *

To Loki's delight, the party didn’t last much longer. When everyone started to leave, Maria and Nonna lead Loki and Tony upstairs to a bedroom.  
  
“It’s beautiful,” Loki commented as soon as his eyes had swept over the spacious area. And it really was.  
  
Walking inside gave him an immediate view of the king-sized bed. Around the indent in the wall hid the bathroom. To the right of the bed was a love seat situated in front of a plush rug. Windows and paintings decorated the wall. He also adored the section on the other side of the room with a little rectangular fireplace. The white, taupe, and blue color scheme felt relaxing and matched well with all the wooden accents.  
  
Loki was peering out the big bay window when Tony stepped around him, checking the space out like it was new to him, too. It might as well have been, for all he knew.  
  
“Nice view, too,” Loki said mostly to himself, as he gazed out the window sliding door, leading directly to a porch. Past the deck was a gorgeous view of the Alaskan scenery. He could see the barn in the distance and a lot of green, trees and bushes and plants taking over every space between.  
  
“And here’s the bed!” Nonna directed, not even attempting to be subtle.  
  
Loki could laugh, though he didn't. "It looks very comfortable.” He indulged, trying to avoid the subject. But then, very carefully, he questioned. “Is this Tony’s room or…?”  
  
Maria laughed. “Oh, Loki. We’re not that naïve. You’re engaged! Don’t worry, you have our support.”  
  
What the hell? Who were these people? He didn't know how much longer he could play along. Even more so if they were expected to actually sleep together to get people to stop questioning.   
  
“Well, that’s great! ‘Cause me and Loki love to snuggle.” Tony plopped a hand down onto Loki’s shoulder, making him jolt a little.  
  
Loki did his best not to throw up. “Huge snugglers.” He ground out.  
  
Tony was far more at ease than he should be, Loki noticed. Yet, he didn't have time to ponder that, as his legs were suddenly getting clawed by sharp needles. “Oh god, what is that!? What is –?”  
  
Embarrassingly, he jumped behind Tony. There he was, at least, able to peer over the man's shoulder to see the ball of fluff he was scooping up into his big arms.  
  
“Oh, sorry, Loki." Maria apologized, immediately reaching out to pet the thing that Tony was holding. “This is Jarvis. We just rescued him from the pound.”  
  
Tony was positively glowing. “He’s cute, Ma.”  
  
Loki wasn’t entirely sure how the little furball qualified as a pet, but he was not about to go questioning it. The thing kept looking at him and yapping like he knew he’d found someone who hadn’t fallen under his spell. Loki had always loved cats, after all. Knowing that this dog didn't seem to care for him, only strengthened it.  
  
“Be sure you don’t let him outside,” Nonna warned. "The eagles might snatch him.”  
  
“Awe, don’t listen to her, Jarvy.” Tony rocked the dog like a baby.   
  
The little thing started licking Tony’s face and mouth. All Loki could think about was how thankful he was that they wouldn't be kissing it again any time soon.  
  
Then, Maria shuffled over to an armoire placed out of the way, near the bathroom. She opened the doors and gestured to the items on the shelves. “Here are the towels and extra linens, in case you need them.”  
  
“And here,” Nonna started, reaching inside to pull out a faded quilt. She handed it over to Loki and continued, “This has special powers.”  
  
Graciously taking the blanket, he couldn’t help but ask. “What kind of special powers?” He began brushing his fingertips over the soft, worn fabric.  
  
“We call it The Baby Maker.”  
  
At the name, Loki has to use every part of him not to throw it to the floor.  
  
"But I suppose you won’t have to worry about that. Still… it’s known to send out good vibes, sexual longevity...” Nonna laughed lightly, elbowing Loki gently.  
  
Loki did not want to be thinking about the '"good vibes" others supposedly felt. Completely ignoring the thought that Tony could have been conceived under it. He gracefully forced the blanket out of his hands and into Tony's after finally getting rid of the dog.  
  
“Thanks, Nonna.” Tony cut in, sincere but unenthusiastic.  
  
“Goodnight, you two. See you in the morning!” Maria called out as she began to leave, followed by Nonna, who hadn’t pulled her gaze from the ‘engaged’ couple.   
  
The wiggling of Nonna’s brows suggested that she knew a secret he didn't. Or, that she figured Loki and Tony would start fucking like wild animals as soon as she left. As discreetly as possible, Loki took a step away from the damned quilt and Tony.

They decided, without discussion, that Tony would be sleeping on the floor. Loki, despite feeling a little bad for him, didn't bother to argue. He changed into his pajamas, which consisted of black sweats and a thin t-shirt, and slipped into bed to bury himself under the covers. It was the earliest, or seemingly earliest, he’d ever gone to bed, with the light peering in from the window.  
  
Loki breathed heavy and deep to fill the silence and allowed himself to think back on the events of the day. Tony seemed very close to his mother and grandma, but not on good terms with his father. It also seemed he hadn’t visited in a while, a thought he voiced out loud before he could think better of it.  
  
He heard Tony shifting on the floor. "Yeah, well I haven’t had a lot of vacation time in the last three years.”  
  
Loki rolled his eyes, knowing fully well that he only felt guilty because he had met Tony's family. They had crossed the line between a work relationship and a personal one. When he spoke, he wasn't sure who he was scolding, “Stop complaining.”  
  
Tony did so, and they laid in the silence. Loki tried to close his eyes, to sleep. But the sun was right in his eyes. He huffed once more and muttered to himself, "Guess I won't be getting any sleep."  
  
From the end of the bed, Loki could see Tony's arm extend, and with the sound of a remote clicking, the sunlight in the room began to dim. With that, they went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the update took some time! My job is bonkers and keeps me hecka busy. enjoy none the less!


	4. Family

Dreams of Loki's parents played before his eyes as he slept. They quickly took a turn, twisting into nightmares. Nightmares about their accident, leading to a montage of his last moments with them. He awoke in the dimly lit room to the sound of a phone beeping - a phone he couldn’t seem to find.  
  
“Tony,” He whispered harshly. “Tony! Where’s my phone?”  
  
Tony groaned. “Side pocket. Satchel.”  
  
Loki scrambled off the bed to grab the bag on the floor and yank out his phone. “Fuck.” He growled when he caught sight of the name P. CARTER on the screen, answering quickly. “Hello?” Of course, the reception was awful. “Hello?!”  
  
Tony groaned even louder, holding his pillow over his head. “Take it outside, Loki! Jesus!”  
  
“Peggy? Hey, love. Hold on just one sec, okay? Just… one sec…” Loki slipped on a sweatshirt and jogged as quietly as he could through the house. Then out the door, and off the back porch to hide among the shrubbery. In her ear, Peggy was already talking about having second thoughts on the Oprah deal.  
  
“Oh, no, Pegs. Darling! This is the deal you’ve been waiting for! Just one little appearance and everything you’ve been hoping for will be right there, waiting for you. The last thing I want to do is pressure you, but this is an opportunity that I’d hate to see you pass up. It’d just break my heart if you…”  
  
This moving speech, which was only partial bullshit, went unfinished. He spotted Jarvis, the irritating dog, outside running around on the lawn. Loki could only blame himself for being so stupid to leave the door open. Because of this, the dog was now being lifted into the air by an eagle.  
  
“Fuck!” He screeched, then immediately wanted to rescind that. “No, not you Pegs, just – hold on, please.” He pulled the phone away from his ear so he could hold his arms out and chase after the eagle. “Give me that dog! Come back! Come back right now! Please?”  
  
Shit, shit, shit.  
  
Tony’s family was going to absolutely loathe him if he let this dog die. They’d think he was even more terrible and this whole thing would just be blown to hell. He'd lose everything over a dog.  
  
“Please? I need that dog!” He began waving his arms frantically.  
  
As if the bird could hear and understand him, he unleashed the dog, it starting to fall through the air. Loki’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he watched. Then, he quickly stuck out his arms, his heart pounding as he dove to catch the animal. In the process, of course, his phone got tossed to the side. Holding onto the dog, he watched as the eagle swooped down and stole the little device, flying away. He cursed inwardly and wished the damn bird kept the dog.  
  
“No! No, dammit!” He cursed at the sky. “If I lose that deal with Nat, I swear to god…”  
  
That was how he found himself running around the backyard, a dog in his arms. His head falling back to watch the sky for the eagle and very nearly screaming out all his frustrations.  
  
“What’re you doing?” When he heard Tony’s voice, it was far too amused for Loki’s liking.  
  
“Your grandma was right, okay? That fucking eagle took the dog! But, but then I saved him, so he took my phone and I was talking to Peggy, fucking Peggy – she wants to cancel the deal and now I’m–”  
  
“Stop. Stop, Loki,” Tony commands, shaking him a little by the shoulders. “We’ll get you a new phone, same number, and everything. I’ll call it in and we can pick it up later. Okay?” He stopped shaking him. Suddenly making his gestures more caring, knowing his mother and grandmother were watching. “Are you good?”  
  
“Yeah,” He breathed. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m good.” He said, his gaze dropping to the ground.  
  
"Okay, then. Go get ready.”  
  
“For what?”  
  
Continuing with more affectionate gestures, he began to rub his hands over Loki’s arm, warming the cotton of the sweatshirt against his skin. Loki narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“You’re going out with the girls.” Tony sighed. 

Once the words sank in, Loki shook his head vehemently. “The girls? What girls? Why am I going out with the girls? Why aren’t you going?”

“My mom and grandma, they just want to spend some quality time with you.”

“Really, I don’t –”

“Just go, Loki,” Tony sighed exasperatedly. “Now,” He said, a little too patronizing for Loki to swallow. “Give me a hug. I don’t want them to think we’re fighting.” When Loki doesn’t move to lean forward, Tony just sighed. “C’mon.”

He let himself get pulled in by Tony, feeling the man grab at the baggy sweatshirt until his chin was against his shoulder and his back caressed by his hand. Being embraced by Tony is, unfortunately, not all that unpleasant. This is exactly why he ended up pulling away, ruining what he feared had become some sort of _moment_. Though, to Tony, it just appeared that he didn’t like the small pats to the butt that he gave him. 

“Boop.” Was all he heard from Tony as he got one last, stronger slap to the ass.

“Yeah, uh, thanks for that.” Loki pretended to smile. “Touch my ass again, I’ll cut your dick off.” 

* * *

As his mother pecked him on the cheek, Tony watched as his grandma escorted Loki out of the house and to the dock. He had no clue what they would possibly do with him all day, but he hoped that Loki could play up a good enough game for both of them. Pulling away from her, he smiled, having missed her loving and truly caring embrace.  
  
“Oh, sweetie, your father would like to talk to you. He’s out golfing, by the lake.” Her smile was sincere, both knowing that talking to him was no easy feat.   
  
Yet, if his mother asked him to do something, he more than obliged. “Yeah mom, I’ll make sure to talk to him.”  
  
“Good.” Smiling, she placed a hand on his arm. “Well, don’t want to be late for Loki’s surprise. Later dear.” She nodded and then left out the front door.  
  
Tony stuck his hands into his pockets. Howard Stark was the last man he wanted to talk to right now. The longer either one of them waited, the worst things would get between them, leading to an explosion. After watching the boat leave the dock, he began his journey to the small square of golf grass his father had made for himself. As he approached, he found himself regaining a little of his calmer self. Finally reaching the man, he watched as he swung and sent a golf ball hurtling into the water.   
  
Howard chuckled. “Now hold on before you start protesting and hollering about destroying the Earth and the killing fishes.” He sniffed, leaning forward to pull another ball closer with his club. “Your mother inspired me to look into how to make them safer, more eco-friendly. Something that has the shape and feel of a golf ball, but is actually compacted particles that dissolve in water.” He bent and picked up one, tossing it at his son. “That right there is an Eco-ball. Something you and your mother can both agree is a fine upstanding Stark invention.”

  
Refraining from starting an argument, by saying, if his father could possibly think disintegrating golf balls could really make up for an industry built on machines for warfare, he was delusional. Not to mention, the town he then built with the blood money from selling said items. Tony just rolled the ball in his hand, gave it a squeeze and spoke up. “You wanted to see me?”  
  
Howard planted his golf club after a long swing, another ball plopping into the water. “Right, uh,” Clearing his throat he shrugged. “Well, your mother is pissed at me, for uh, for apparently not being the most gracious of hosts last night.” His shoulders lifted once more as he positioned himself to take a swing. “But, you can’t blame me for being shocked. Shocked to find out that you’re getting married, to a man. Especially when none of us knew you were even dating females.” Bringing his arms back, he hauled off and smacked away another golf ball.

With a shift of his weight and shoving his hands further into his pockets, Tony felt a wave of dread. Here it was, Howard Stark, doing what he did best! Making his son feel like a piece of shit. How heartwarming, better call Hallmark. 

“Anyways.” The man leaned on his club again. “The point is…” He shifted his weight and extended his arm, offering his open hand. Tony had the instinct to step back, away from the man, but stayed stoic. “I owe you an apology.” 

In a state of utter shock, Tony’s hand crept from his pocket and took the hand before him, shaking it gingerly. It was a nice thing to hear from his father, having never heard the slightest form of decency from him in his whole life. Hopefully, it meant they were heading in the right direction. Having already accepted that he and his father would never be as close as they were when Tony was a kid, but they don’t have to be perfect. All he wanted was to have some semblance of a positive relationship with his dad and maybe now was the time for it. 

“Accepted.” He said, trying to keep his voice from rising like a question, not being able to help the suspicion rising in his gut.

Their hands dropped, and as his father moved to set up another swing, he went over to the caddy of clubs, pulling one out.

“There's something else.” Howard started, setting up his stance.  
  
After checking out another ball, Tony looked over at him, lowering the nine iron in his hand. He was starting to grow reluctant to accept the apology.  
  
“I’ve been going over my retirement plans, recently.” He prepped yet another ball but didn’t set himself up in a stance, only looked at Tony. “I’ve been thinking, I’ve done a lot of thinking in my life. Things that I am proud of, and that I hope that you and your mother are proud of.” He sighed. “Hell, I practically built an industry from ground up with your mother when we had nothing…”  
  
Preparing himself for the blow, Tony rested his arms with the golf club across his shoulders. “Oh, and let me guess, it won’t mean anything unless you’ve got someone to give it to.” His arms dropped, and he tossed the club at his father’s feet. “Yeah dad, we’ve already discussed this-”  
  
“And I liked to discuss it again.”  
  
Tony looked to the side, hating that his father never let him finish what he had to say. He took a deep breath, pursed his lips and then tilted his head, waiting for his father to finish his little speech.  
  
“You have responsibilities here. I’ve been more than, uh...understanding of your..." The man searched for his words. "Gay fantasies, with you goofing off in New York, reading books and dating your boss." Raising his hand he started to speak with a bit of animation. "Look, I need you, Stark industries needs you, to quit playing around and come home like a real business ma-”  
  
“And, here we go again!” Tony’s chin jutted out, beyond tired of his father, of this conversation, of everything. “You want to discuss, well let’s discuss when you’re going to start taking what I do seriously.”  
  
“Well, how about when you start acting seriously.”  
  
Tony stepped back, his hands falling from his pockets. He put his arms up. “You know what, I’m sorry. I'm sorry that you don’t have another son. That I don’t have a shinning star sibling that would have done everything you wanted them to do. Someone who didn’t disappoint you so much, and that you could have stuck in my face and asked why I couldn’t be more like them. One who wanted to stay in this town, one who wanted to “take over the family business”. Most importantly, someone who wanted to marry someone you approved of." Tony was fuming and he could only keep going as he vented. "I wish you had another one, I really do. But that’s not me, and it will never be me.” He paused, having not planned on lamenting all this. With a shake of his head, he finished. “Now it must seem strange to you, my life. In a big scary city like New York, sitting in an office, at a desk, at a job that I get paid to do. Even better, getting paid to read books, all day.” He shook his head. “But it makes me happy, you understand?”  
  
Howard was not looking at him when he finished his little tirade. Hell, Tony would be happy if the man didn’t say a word, yet he did.  
  
“Yeah, if that’s what makes you happy, son." His father turned over his shoulder, positioning himself for another swing. With his back towards Tony, he grumbled. "I’ve got nothing to say.”  
  
Tony just let out a dry laugh. “Well, ain’t that a first. You should try that more often.” He turned, so ready to be miles away from the man, but he paused. “Oh, and that awful apology? Not accepted. I take it back.” Rolling his eyes, he stepped away, calling over his shoulder, “Have fun with your stupid balls.”

* * *

The boat ride back to the main island went as well as a boat ride could go for Loki. Actually, as well as a boat ride with two women that Loki was lying to about marrying their son/grandson could go. Once they were on land, Loki could finally relax. Yet, it couldn't help to wonder what exactly "quality time" with Maria and Nonna would entail. Soon, he was being swept away by Tony’s mother and grandmother. It didn’t sit well with Loki. What would happen without Tony? What if there was something brought up that he didn’t know how to handle, or didn’t have an answer to their questions. He was a ball of nerves. As he sat in the backseat, he tried looking out the window, to calm his nerves. Yet, only watching a bunch of small shops rushing by, only reminded him of Tony as his last name was plastered on most. Where could they be taking him? They owned half the places around here.  
  
Almost at the edge of the little shops, they pulled into a small parking lot, which looked like it belonged to a bar. A bar?  
  
As they parked, the two women turned to look at him with big grins. “We’re treating you to a fun night, a bachelor party of sorts.”   
  
Loki’s stomach dropped. “Oh, no, you really didn’t have to…”  
  
“Oh, but we did!" Grammy cheered and began to exit the car, pulling open Loki’s door as she got out. For an elderly woman, she had a lot of energy.  
  
Soon, he was inside, his eyes squinting at the hazy and dimly lit atmosphere. This was never his scene. It certainly wasn’t now while he was pretending to celebrate his fake prenuptials. As he entered someone had graced him with a “Bride to be” sash, and a matching tiara. He didn’t think it was fair that of the two men, he was the one pegged as the bride. Oh well, as long as the marriage would happen, he’d wear a damn dress for all he cared. He was as well offered a drink, and after getting three no’s about their stock, he just went with a regular beer. He had to remind himself that he was not in New York anymore or some hipster gay bar. Not that he’d confess that to anyone who asked.  
  
After getting a beer passed to him, he was directed to a small table, joined by Grammy, Maria, and even Pepper. He sat down gingerly, scanning the area, feeling uneasy. How could he trust this environment when he had no clue who any of these people were, let alone where he was. Trying his best to appear natural, the male didn’t want to offend Tony’s family. As they all chatted around him, he tried his best to not look frightened. Then, Maria grabbed his attention. 

“I hope you’re ready for your big surprise.” Her smile was wide. “Because this is one of Sitka’s greatest treasures.” Maria looked at the other women. “Right?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Pepper nodded, taking a sip of her beer.

“Oh yes.” Grammy added. 

The three then went into a fit of giggles as the lights in the room dimmed. Loki felt himself take a sharp intake of breath, not knowing what to expect. Even as they all nursed a beer, Loki was still wondering why the hell they were here. And why the hell had Nonna ordered an entire pint for herself? Loki’s head turned to look around, suddenly very alarmed. From the side, he could hear Maria speak. 

“This was the surprise I was telling you about. You ready?” 

Suddenly, there was music playing over the speakers and a stage was illuminated, a single chair sitting a little off-center. Loki’s brow rose, not even trying to mask his disgust. 

“Oh Loki, you’re going to love it!” Grammy cheered. 

Loki faked a smile, in case she was looking at him in the darkened room. Then his eyes darted quickly back to the stage. A spotlight swiveled over the stage, and then suddenly a man jumped out onto the stage. By his muscular features and the skimpy, knock off chip and dales outfit he wore, Loki knew exactly what was going on. His stomach dropped and he was pretty sure his mouth had fallen a bit open. They’d gotten him a male stripper. He was completely floored. He didn’t have much time to relish in his shock, as Pepper leaned in. 

“Clint’s the only exotic dancer on the island.” 

Grammy shrugged. “But we’re lucky to have him.” 

Loki could only imagine what his face looked like as he watched the male rip off his vest, and accept a tip from a party goer.

“Exotic what…?” Loki asked, choking on a sip of beer. Absolutely not. He had not signed up for a stripper. Established book publishers did not get lap dances in bars owned by their fake-fiancé’s family. But before he could really protest or worm his way out of it, the lights in the bar were dimming and some cheesy music was beginning to play over the speakers.

Reluctantly, he glanced toward the stage at the front of the room and was met with the sight of a muscular blonde man in nothing but a purple thong. Yeah, he definitely regretted looking up.

From all around him, he could hear cheers of “yeah, Clint!”, “get it, Clint!, and “you go, hot stuff!”, but all he could do was cringe as Maria and Nonna began to flag the dancing man down. 

“Right here, Clint! He’s your man!” Nonna cheered, waving him over, and over he came. “Over here, _caro, _show him why you’re Sitka’s pride and joy.”

Clint, in all of his purple speedo glory, looked down at Loki with a wide grin. “C’mon, princess, let’s go, you sexy thing, you.” He purred, holding out his hands and swaying his hips to the music all the while.

Loki laughed nervously, holding his beer with both hands like a security blanket. “Oh, no, no, no. That’s alright, I’m fine, thank you very much.” His pleading did him no good. Maria pried the bottle from him and Clint took his hands, pulling him up. “I’m sure you’re a very nice man, but really- SHIT!” He cried out as Clint picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, fireman-style. Squirming, as well, did him no good. Clint was stronger than he looked and carried him all the way up on stage, setting Loki down into a chair that was seated directly in the center.

He sat, stiff as a board, while Clint danced around and on top of him, thrusting his hips rhythmically. He tried his best to ignore all of the cheering coming from their “audience”, all of them encouraging Clint to get closer and more risqué. What surprised him the most was what he could hear Maria and Nonna shouting.

“Smack him, Loki!”

“Give him a nice good spanking!”

Lo and behold, Clint had heard them too and was now moving to stand in front of Loki and bending over, waving his ass in the man’s face. It didn’t take him long to realize that this was not going to be over until Loki did as they asked. Chewing on his bottom lip, he drew his hand up and brought it down lightly on Clint’s backside, sighing in relief as the dancer gave an exaggerated gasp and danced away, wide grin still on his face.

“Can I come down now?” Loki mouthed to Maria as Clint began to sway his hips and bow. With a nod from her, he quickly got out of the chair, waving to Clint, hoping he wouldn’t touch him as he passed. 

With a huff Loki took his leave. Running his fingers through his hair he smiled sheepishly as he walked down from the stage. He passed the table. “I’m gonna go get some fresh air.” He explained as he walked away from the Stark women, swiping his beer, and heading towards the back porch.

Pushing the heavy door open he stepped out with a sigh. He actually did enjoy getting some air. And taking in the natural light and the escape from the noise inside the bar. He wandered over to the ledge, leaning over the railing and beginning to pull the veiled tiara out of his hair. Setting it to the side, he brought his hand up to rub at his face. He had only been sipping his beer and looking out at the scenery for a few minutes when he noticed he was being watched. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed Pepper. The woman that had completely captured Tony’s attention, his ex-girlfriend.  
  
“Thought I might find you out here.” Pepper smiled, walking over to the ledge beside Loki. She leaned on the edge, a vodka martini in her hands, three olives speared on a toothpick in the glass.  
  
“Yeah..” Loki said, a shy chuckle escaping him. “I just needed to get away for a minute, take a breather.” He shrugged.  
  
Pepper giggled softly, nodding her head. “Yeah, the Starks can be a bit much, can’t they?” She said, a fond smile on her face as she took a sip of her drink.  
  
“That’s one way to put it.” Loki replied, taking a swig of his beer. It wasn’t his typical choice of drink, but hey, whatever got him through the day. Or through all these tense interactions.  
  
“Sitka’s pretty different from New York, huh? Quieter, I’m sure…” Pepper said, and Loki could feel her eyes on him like it was some sort of interrogation.  
  
Which, hey, it could have been. She probably still cared about Tony and wanted to make sure that Loki had only his best interests in mind.  
  
“Uh, yeah, it’s definitely a culture shock. Have you ever been?” He replied, hoping to keep the discussion light and not at all marriage-related.  
  
Pepper shook her head, laughing softly. “No, no. Not me. That was always Tony’s dream, where he wanted to end up in life. Like his promised land.”  
  
Loki furrowed his brow and his curiosity got the best of him. Even if he didn’t necessarily want the conversation to take any turns. “You two.. were you, uh, serious?”  
  
That caused Pepper to pause. Loki chanced a look at her, noticing her staring off into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.  
  
“Well.. I guess you could say we were? We dated in high school, for quite some time, but we were just kids, really.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “It, uh… it ended because, the night before we graduated, he proposed.” She sighed and bounced on her toes as she spoke, looking to Loki for a moment. “Said he wanted to elope with me, run off to New York and just get away from Sitka, from his family.”  
  
“And you said no…?” Loki asked. This was more fascinating, and it made him feel less stressed about being questioned.  
  
“Yeah.. I said no. I mean, I’ve never left Sitka. This is my home, I never had any desire to leave. I couldn’t. My family is here, my friends are here. This is all I’ve ever known." Pepper shrugged and then she added. "But this was never going to make Tony happy.”  
  
When Pepper stopped that time, Loki knew that that was where the story ended and there was no more room to push. So they were silent. Both just sipped their respective drinks. Loki continued to take in the Alaskan atmosphere.  
  
After a few minutes, Pepper spoke up again. “You’re really lucky, though… to be marrying Tony. He’s a wonderful guy, a real sweetheart.”  
  
Loki knew she was being sincere.  
  
He gave her a nod and a polite smile. “Yeah… Yeah, he is.” He found that he was being just as sincere as Pepper.  
  
“Well.” She sighed finishing off her martini. "Clint is probably wrapping it up, you better get back in there.” She cleared her throat before glancing back inside the bar as she pulled open the door.  
  
“Yeah, I guess I should...” Loki let out a soft chuckle and nodded. He let Pepper go first, but eventually headed for the door too.

* * *

Loki trailed behind Nonna and Maria on the dock. As he headed towards the house, he couldn't keep from smiling to himself. With the way, the women were voicing their thoughts. Some on how excited they were for the wedding, cracking a few jokes about grandkids. But mostly, how Tony would’ve reacted, had he been in Loki’s shoes, on the stage.  
  
“He’d be shy at first, but Clint would rope him into dancing, too. You know how he gets when people egg him on.”  
  
Yet, not much of the rest of the conversation really stuck with him, as he saw Tony out of the corner of his eye. His head tilted as he noticed the man, sweating profusely and hacking away at a heap of scrap metal.   
  
“Tony!” Loki called for his false lovers' attention. “They brought me back, nice and safe for you!” He joked, continuing to call out. When there was no answer, Loki called out again. “Tony?” Still nothing.  
  
Nonna ventured over to him, taking him by the arm. “Oh, no, he’s tinkering. Best to leave him alone, come along dear.”  
  
Loki’s mouth parted to protest, but with Maria tugging his arm, he simply continued along. Both women happily escorted the male up and into the house. They entered through the backdoor and into the kitchen. Nonna broke off, heading to her room, saying she needed a nap after all the excitement. Loki, without Tony, opted to follow Maria into the living room. Yet, he cautiously lingered by the staircase when he saw Tony’s father sitting on the couch.  
  
“Howard, where’s Tony?” Maria questioned, standing by the tv.  
  
“I don’t know. Probably out breaking another set of tools in the barn.”  
  
Maria’s warm features turned hard at the man’s words. Clearly having had enough, Maria reached for the remote on the table. In a huff, he shut the television off, much to the annoyance of her husband.  
  
“What did you do?” She demanded.  
  
Suddenly feeling like he was intruding, Loki knew he needed to get out of sight. “I think I’ll go take a shower, get Clint's body glitter off.” He announced, gaining her attention. “I had a great time. Thank you.”  
  
Both parties did their best to gain face, as they hadn't expected to get caught in their moment. Maria straightened herself and nodded to Loki.  
  
“Of course Dear.” Her smile a little strained. “Goodnight.”  
  
“Night.” Offering a small wave he headed up the stairs quickly. Though, he couldn't help stopping at the top, hoping to do some eavesdropping.  
  
“What did you do, Howard?” Maria sounded exasperated, like they’d had this conversation before.  
  
“I didn’t do anything. I mean, I...I just had a serious conversation with him about his future.”  
  
“Oh, good idea, Howard!" Maria's inflection rose. "He’s never gonna come back home if you keep acting like this! Tony is my son and I only get to see him once every three years because of you. I’ve had enough." Exasperation returned to her tone. "Honestly, I know you don’t understand how he likes men and women. But Loki is a great person and you need to be supportive of Tony wanting to marry him.”  
  
“Christ, no, Maria. It’s not about– I don’t care about that, okay? I just think it’s strange that he never even mentioned the fact that they were dating." Loki could hear shifting and imagined Howard standing from the couch. "You’d think out of all the times he's talked about his boss. Of all the times he's complained. He...he might’ve added in the fact that they were seeing each other. And what kind of relationship is that anyway?”  
  
“Stop it!" Maria's voice rose and it caused Loki to jump a little. "You know, if you’re not careful, we’re gonna end up alone in this house."  
  
Loki's brow furrowed, he really shouldn't be listening to this...  
  
"Just you and me and everything we’re angry about. And God forbid that they should adopt a child someday that we’ll never get to see!" Loki could hear the deep sigh that Maria released. "They won’t come over for Christmas or Thanksgiving or just to visit for the weekend. All because you have to make your own son feel like he can’t do anything to make himself good enough."  
  
Loki's lips parted, ready to abort this crazy idea, having heard far too much of this conversation. He rose from the step he'd sat on but heard just before he stepped away, Maria's final words.  
  
"You better fix this, Howard. I mean it. Fix this now.”

Now feeling that he’d heard far too much, Loki crept away from the steps. Quickly, he stepped into his and Tony’s room, shutting the door behind him. With a small sigh, he fell against the back of the door. He wanted to feel like he could relax now that he was alone, but he was only going over the conversation he heard. Taking a moment to just breath, he figured a shower would really help. Soon, he began to shed his clothes and stepped into the shower. As the water rushed down, he hoped it would also wash away all of the words he just heard. Clear all the feelings and emotions that came with it. His stay under the water wasn't long, though it felt good. Loki realized that in his haste to remove himself from the guilt of eavesdropping, he forgot to grab a towel.  
  
When finished, he tried to rid as much water off him as he could. Then, as he stepped out onto the bathmat he tried to fight how freezing it now was. With one foot still in the tub, he looked up when he heard what sounded like the door opening. He called out, his heart pounding, “Hello?”  
  
No reply. Or any other sounds that would cause alarm. As he stood, breath hitched, he picked up on muffled footsteps just outside the bathroom door. which was the only thing protecting his modesty.  
  
“Hey!” He shouted a little louder.  
  
There was still no answer and the sounds outside had stopped. Loki wouldn’t have been surprised if he was just hearing things now with the day he'd had.  
  
Sighing and deciding to be brave, he opened the door. He opened it just enough to stick his head out to glance around. Finding nothing, he then wandered out, just a little bit. Just then, Jarvis appeared out of nowhere and started barking his head off. Loki was instantly startled and stumble back into the bathroom.  
  
In all this time, Tony had entered the room and had removed his shirt. Heavy metal blared in his headphones from his iPod. It was something that really helped him focus when he was working on his machines and things. He found himself fuming after his conversation with his father. So, that meant he was more in a destroying-things mood rather than working on them. Leaving the room, Tony set his iPod on the small ledge of the balcony adjacent. There he took in the beautiful sight he'd missed and then began to remove his clothes.  
  
Back at the bathroom, Loki attempted to fight back. “Jarvis, shhh. Can I just –” Loki begged, trying his best to inch his way out of the bathroom.  
  
The tiny, fluffy little dog was growling and blocking Loki’s way. The only way to the armoire, where he would find towels. It seemed, to get there, he'd have to kick the damn dog to the side, which Loki was absolutely not about to do.  
  
“For fuck’s sake, move! What the hell is your problem?” He cursed out loud.  
  
When he tried to take a step forward, the dog snapped at his toes. So, he tried to shift to the side. But, the dog only lunged and then sprung back to close the potential opening Loki might have had. It wasn’t until Loki got the idea of calling the mangy thing forward that he made the quick decision to pull the rug. With Jarvis sitting, he tugged it towards him himself and further into the bathroom. In a swift set of moves, he closed the door behind him, leaving the dog trapped.  
  
The rush of so much movement knocked him off balance, causing him to spin around. If that wasn’t enough, he came smacking into what felt like a wall. A wall that was a little squishy? A wall that grunted and placed a pair of hands, on his back? A wall that toppled under the sudden weight, getting trapped underneath Loki’s naked body?

The “squishy wall” turned out to be Tony. A _naked_ Tony. 

“Oh my god!” Loki screamed, squirming. “Why are you naked?!”

“Why are you wet?!” Tony sputtered, ending up repeating himself after he realized the validity of his question. “_Why _are you _wet_!”

“Oh, fuck – don’t look at me._ Don’t_ look at me!”

Tony began to pull himself up as Loki crawled away while his back was turned.

“I don’t understand!” Tony cried, sounding very distressed.

“Don’t look at me!” Loki shouted hoarsely, trying to cover himself and accidentally grabbing for the baby maker. Tossing it away, he opted to cover himself by hiding behind the bed covers.

It wasn’t so much about him not wanting Tony to see his dick, which he certainly didn’t. It was more so that… he wasn’t exactly comfortable with Tony seeing some different features of his body - scars lining his back, uneven and oddly pigmented skin. His brain shorted out, however, when he caught a glimpse of Tony’s, for a lack of a better word, package.

“Oh, god – you’re showing everything!” Swiftly bringing up his hand (and not because he was being a prude, he just really didn’t need the mental image of Tony’s junk haunting his dreams tonight - He has to work with the guy, after all), he covered his eyes. “Dammit, cover up!”

Tony stood, snatching up the towel he had dropped and wrapping it around his waist, holding it tight until his knuckles turned white. A blush was starting to grow at the base of his neck and chest.

Loki gulped, voice cracking when he demanded that Tony explain himself.

“Explain myself? I was getting ready to take a shower!”

“And you didn’t hear me?”

“I was –” He motioned vaguely to the music player that laid abandoned on the floor. “And then you just jumped me out of nowhere!”

Loki was blushing now, sputtering. “I didn’t _mean_ to jump you! The dog was harassing me and I couldn’t get a towel –”

“Are you telling me that you, who wouldn’t blink for a bullet, are afraid of a_ puppy_?”

Loki glared ice cold daggers at Tony. “Just go!” His arms rose in anger. “Go take a fucking shower, you stink!”

Tony rolled his eyes as he gathered his iPod, then turned towards the bathroom door. “Nice tattoo, by the way.”

Loki froze, his heart stopping as he heard those words. He couldn’t even find any words to say, he just desperately wished that he could turn back time and prevent Tony from having ever seen that damn ink on his back. What snapped him out of his trance, though, was when he saw Tony open up the bathroom door and Jarvis come running out. Jarvis barked at Loki as he ran past him and out of the bedroom. Loki’s eyes went wide and he pointed at the direction the dog went, staring at Tony with his brows raised.

“Oh yeah, I barely made it out with my life!” Tony retorted, rolling his eyes as he walked into the bathroom.

Loki may or may not have shot him the middle finger after the door swung shut. 


	5. Tested

Trying to settle down for the night proved to be very awkward. Loki was sure that Tony was probably at least a little bit embarrassed about the whole naked tumbling session they’d had. He knew he was, but that’d never escape his lips, of course. 

“So….so naked.” Tony’s voice came from his spot on the floor.

“Can we, uh, can we not talk about that please?” Loki all but groaned. 

“Just saying…” 

Not wanting to think any longer on that topic, he let his mind recall the argument he’d overheard that day between Tony’s parents. Would bringing that up cause Tony too much distress? Should he even bother to tell him about it? Maybe if he eased him into talking about the subject, it’d make him feel like he owed Loki an answer. 

“If I may…” Loki began, breaking the silence that had formed between them. “What's the deal with you and your father?” He questioned, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for a response.

“No, Loki.” The reply came immediately, and Tony didn't make it sound like there was any room for discussion.

That wasn't going to stop Loki, though.

“Hey, if I'm remembering this correctly, you were the one who decided we had to know these things about each other.” He argued. 

“That is not in the binder. We are not talking about this Loki, we’re not.” The sound of movement followed Tony shifting on the floor under his blanket, wanting to dodge the questions. “Not about that Loki, now goodnight.” 

Loki just sighed and let it drop, knowing that if Tony didn't want to talk about it, they weren't going to talk about it.

So he laid there, staring at the ceiling, too many thoughts running through his head for him to sleep. Fine, if Tony didn't want to talk, Loki would do all of the talking himself. 

“I like Norse mythology..” He spoke into the darkness, pausing, but not long enough for Tony to make some sort of comment, which was what he was expecting. “And not in the ‘ha ha, his name is Loki, that's funny’ kind of way. I really enjoy it.” He clarified, his chest tight with the fear of judgment. 

So, to prevent Tony from speaking at all, Loki just kept talking.

“I took ballet lessons when I was a kid…” 

Tony’s eyes fluttered open, having tried to fall asleep. He looked up at the ceiling, his mouth opened as his brow furrowed. “Wha…” His mouth began to form but he ended up getting cut off. He simply rolled onto his side, deciding he’d just listen. 

“My first concert was Billy Idol..I'm actually still a big fan.” He hesitated a bit before speaking up again. “I think Christian Slater is sexy.” He’d received plenty of teases for that opinion. 

Tony’s brows rose a bit as he rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. He didn’t judge but was mostly interested to find that his boss was actually sexually attracted to something, or more specifically some_one_. So his heart wasn’t _completely_ frozen...

“I don’t like flowers in the house because they remind me of funerals.” He confessed, and by that point, he knew he was getting into information far deeper than his taste in music or men.

Tony narrowed his eyes slightly, and his lips twitched, trying not to frown too much at the thought of his boss always receiving flowers from companies, and seeing them continuously tossed into the trash. He really wasn’t a bitch, just, sad. He breathed in, invested and wanting to know more. 

“Never played a video game… I read “The Bell Jar” every Christmas, it’s my favorite book… I haven’t slept with anyone in over a year and a half.” He took a shuddering breath in. “And uh... I went to the bathroom and cried after Sif called me a monster.” 

He took a longer pause this time, contemplating whether or not he was actually ready to tell this next story.

“I know you’re wondering about the tattoo on my back…” He chewed at his lip tentatively. “It’s, um.. not intentional or anything. Well, it’s intentional, just not my decision.” He cleared his throat and tried to collect himself a bit. “It’s, um, it’s a rite of passage? I guess…” He let out a dry laugh, not believing he was telling the story. “In my family…uh, heh, when I was a part of my family, I was always fighting to prove myself. To, my brother, to my father…everyone. Well, except for my mother.” He sighed and played with his hands. “So, um, I was getting into good graces, and to sort of, prove myself to the fullest extent…I had to brand myself…with the family crest.

There was a moment of silence. Did Tony fall asleep? With some weird sense of courage, thinking Tony hadn’t heard any of it, he pressed on.

“So, that’s what it is…my family’s crest.” He gave a small huff. “I wanted it removed because almost as soon as I got it, it didn’t change much. They still treated me like I was lesser than them. I felt betrayed and for a long time I saw it and wanted to just blink it away…” He bit into his lip. “But, after I scheduled it, I just had this pit in my stomach, guilt. Because it’s the last thing I have of them…” He sighed, reaching up and rubbing at his shoulder blade, where the ink was printed onto his skin.

Tony found himself genuinely speechless so, he listened as Loki just continued.

“I was adopted when I was thirteen, knew that I was gay when I was sixteen, came out when I was eighteen which led to me being kicked out and disowned.” He sighed, shaking his head. After clearing his throat to fight away some god-forsaken tears, he went on. “I’m sure there are many, many other things, but that’s all I can come up with right now.”

There was silence after that. Tense, bone-chilling silence that made Loki sick to his stomach. And it was probably only due to how utterly vulnerable he was in that moment, but he spoke up again, his voice trembling. “You… You there?” He was terrified. What if Tony was like his childhood tormentors? What if he also believed that Loki was nothing?

It took a while, more silent moments that only intensified Loki’s anxiety, but Tony eventually replied. 

“I’m here. Just… processing.”

Then the quiet took over again. 

“Uh, so…” This time, Tony was the one to break it, though. He paused, looking at the ceiling in the darkened room. “You really haven’t slept with anyone in eighteen months?”

“Out of all of that, that’s what you retained?” Loki gawked. 

“That's...that’s a long time.” 

“Yes, well I’ve been a little busy.” Loki, even in his anxious state, couldn’t help but laugh nervously.

“Yeah…” Tony chuckled a bit. Thinking about what Loki said, he continued. Billy Idol huh? Tony’s brow furrowed. As a man who prided himself on his taste in old heavy metal and songs of the variety, he wanted to test his boss’s knowledge. “Who’s uh, who’s Billy Idol?”

“Yeah, you know..” He trailed off and let out a soft sigh before a smile crept onto his face. He tried his best not to be embarrassed as he started to sing, “Last night a little dancer came dancin' to my door. Last night a little angel Came pumpin’ cross my floor…”

Now Tony was stifling his laughter more at the sound of his boss’s whine. As Loki asked why he was laughing, he composed himself to speak up. “I know Billy...I know the song, I just uh,” He chuckled a bit, “I just wanted to hear you sing it.”

Biting into his lip, he then continued to chuckle like a little kid. After hearing a chuckle from his boss, Tony’s head turned a little, as if he could see him. “Loki?”

“Yes?” 

“Don’t take this the wrong way…”

Loki steeled himself. “Okay.”

“You are a very...very beautiful person.” 

Loki couldn’t help but stare at the ceiling with the biggest of smiles. The comment was sincere, and he knew it. The words moved him deeply, made him feel warm all over and even made his demeanor softening. Not having experienced kindness in a long time, he wanted to say something. He had just opened his mouth to begin, when…

“She don't like slavery, she won't sit and beg… But when I'm tired and lonely she sees me to bed.” Tony began to sing. 

“What set you free and brought you to be me, babe,....” Loki chimed in. 

“What set you free I need you here by me because…” 

The two joined in to sing the next set of lyrics. 

“In the midnight hour, she cried more, more, more.”

Then, Tony returning to his solo gave his best effort at sounding like the lead singer, but his voice cracked half-way through. “In the midnight hour babe. More, more, more. With a rebel yell. More! More! Mo-” He cleared his throat. “God, I could never sing like that…”

As their laughter died down, Tony offered, “But, I can keep going…”

Yet, Loki could tell by the sound of him clearing of his throat, he meant otherwise.

“No, that’s okay. That was…” He bit into his lip and then laughed a little more. “It was good. Thank you.” He meant it. The two continued to giggle, soon drifting off to sleep.

* * *

A soft grumble escaped Loki as he woke up, stretching and squirming a bit to wake his muscles. It was pleasant, waking up with the Alaskan sunrise shining in through the window. That is until there was a knock at the door.

“Good morning!” Maria Stark’s sing-songy voice could be heard outside of the room. “I brought breakfast for the happy couple!”

Loki shot up, crawling frantically to the end of the bed so that he could see Tony, laying on the floor. Unfortunately, he was still asleep and snoring like a dog. 

“Tony!” He whisper-yelled. 

Nothing.

So, he continued, repeating this a few more times, with the same result. Giving in, he grabbed a pillow from the bed and chucked it at his assistant, who promptly awoke with a jump.

Grumpily, Tony turned on his side.“What the fuck…?” He muttered sleepily, rubbing his face.

“Your mother is on the other side of the door, get your ass in this bed, now,” Loki ordered, glaring down at Tony.

All he got in response was a tired, “Huh?”

Loki rolled his eyes and began to question how such an intelligent person could be so daft. “You, bed, now.” He barked, and _finally_ got the desired reaction.

Tony scrambling to join him in bed. Tony hopped up to his feet and crawled onto the bed, hauling with him the pillows and blankets he’d slept on. Loki recoiled when the quilt known as “The Baby Maker” got tossed in with the mix. With it being within touching distance, which Loki decided was far too close, he pointed to it. Tony just rolled his eyes and tossed it back onto the floor.

“W, what do I do?” He questioned as he wrestled his way under the blankets, squirming closer to Loki. 

Loki himself wasn't even positive on what exactly would make them look like a convincing couple. He had no clue what a couple did, especially not after having cuddled all night.

“I don't know! Spoon me?”

And so, Tony did just that.

The feel of something hard pressing against his ass caused Loki to jump up and squirm away, staring at Tony incredulously. “What the hell is that?!”

“It's morning, the fuck do you think it is?!” 

“That's disgusting.. oh my god, you're disgusting,” Loki grumbled while returning to the position but making sure he wasn’t too close.

“Sorry, okay. I’m sorry.” Tony whispered quickly. “It happens sometimes, alright?” He then turned a bit, attempting to angle his hips away from the ass that was once pressed snugly against him. “Or are you too cold-blooded for that?”  
  
It was a risky joke, but Loki snorted at it, sounding vaguely amused to Tony. Then, with no other option, he pressed himself back against Tony, who became the one stiffening this time, in more ways than one. Hoping to not look suspicious when his family entered, he took in a deep breath, instantly feeling his morning “issue” going away with the situation he was in. First, his mother stepped into the room, holding a tray of breakfast foods, and then his grandmother was in the room and he instantly felt like a heathen. God, why did his family make him feel so guilty? 

“Everything okay?” 

“Come on in, everything’s fine! Yep, just come right on in!” 

“Room service!” Maria sang, bringing the tray closer to the bed. 

“Oh wow, smells good.” He chimed in. 

Tony was more than happy when Loki and him began to move away from one another, sitting upright, Tony making sure to pull enough covers over his lap, just in case. He heard his boss speaking to his mother. 

“Oh Maria, you shouldn’t have gone to that trouble.” 

Hearing him say that made Tony bite his lip. Wondering if he meant her actually making them breakfast in bed, or entering the room in general, he forced the smirk from his lips and continued to listen. 

“Oh, you’re family now. It’s no trouble.” She set the tray near the bed and then sat on the edge of the mattress. 

“There room for one more?” The voice from the door made Tony’s stomach drop. His father. 

“Wow, could we not do this Brady family meeting right now?” He rubbed at his eyes, then patted Loki’s head. “We, uh, we just got up, if you don’t mind.” 

Howard, like always, didn’t listen to his son and kept speaking. “Oh, well your mother and I have come up with a proposition.” His mother joined his father’s side, taking his hand, while his father continued. “And I happen to think it’s a terrific idea…” 

“We want you to get married here, tomorrow.” Maria jumped in, excitement all over her face as she talked over her husband. 

Tony just looked ahead blankly at his parents. Married. Here. Tomorrow? Glancing down at Loki, he went to open his mouth so that he couldn’t agree before Tony could decline. 

“What? I’m sorry, what?” Loki repeated himself, and Tony took this moment to shake his head negatively. 

“Well,” Maria offered, “you’re going to get married anyway, so, why don’t you get married here?” She gestured to the general area around her. “Where we can all be together. That way, Nonna can be a part of it.”

“Oh, oh we’re-” Loki piped in.

“No,” Tony interjected.

“No, No, it’s Nonna’s big birthday tomorrow night,” Loki said, putting on a smile.

“Big day for her,” Tony added in, wishing for a way for them to avoid this. “We don’t want to ruin it, that’s, you know, that’s-”

“I’ve had eighty-nine birthday parties, I don’t need another one.” Nonna finally butted in. 

Loki adjusted himself in bed. “Oh, Nonna…”

“Oh, it would be a dream come true for me.” She sighed happily. “To see my one grandchild’s wedding. A dream come true!” She cheered and then tilted her head. “So you’ll do it?” 

The two of them just gave little smiles, Tony starting to shake his head a bit. Until…

“Before I’m dead?” She added, with a threatening edge to her tone.

At this, the two sat up and started nodding. 

“Okay.” “Okay” 

Then Tony watched as his mother and grandmother turned to one another and started laughing and cheering. His mother bounced on her heels, he’d never seen her more excited. “Okay, we will do _everything_, and, and you can get married like we did…” She looked at Howard. “In the barn.” 

“It’s a Stark family tradition!” Nonna smiled. 

At that moment, Tony was so thankful for Loki. Or at least, Loki’s acting abilities. “Oh wow!” He gasped in awe, and it was pretty believable. “Wow! Uh, I, uh, I’ve always wanted to get married in...in a, in a barn.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I have too.” Tony nodded as he felt Loki turn and look to him.

Nonna stuck her arms up. “It’s a sign! A sign from the universe that you’re meant to be together.” Her hands clasped together in front of her and she grinned. “Oh, we _must_ give thanks, I tell you.” She turned to Howard. “Come, come, we must give thanks.” 

Howard just smiled at his mother and began to escort her from the room, as Tony looked to his mother, who looked like she was about to explode any minute. With the biggest grin sprawled on her face, she added, while stepping back, “Okay, I know I should leave you alone now…” She wavered a bit, Howard came back in to grab her by the arm as she cheered. “But we’re just _so excited!_” 

Loki and Tony both smiled and laughed with her as his father took his mother from the room. As soon as the door shut, the two of them sat for a moment, and then it struck Tony. He put his palm to his forehead. “Oh my god.” He sighed. “When my mom finds out that this whole thing is a sham....she’s gonna be, she’s gonna be crushed.” Shaking his head, the man felt a bubble of anxiety start to rise in his stomach. “And my grandmother, god, my grandmother’s gonna _die_!”

As Tony motioned to where his family had left, he felt Loki touch his arm. “Shh, shhh, they’re not gonna find out..” He began, but Tony wasn’t listening, he just pulled his arm back. 

“My father, what the hell, _what the hell_ is this whole wedding thing? Where the hell did that come from? Just, ugh-”

“She, she probably got him wrapped up into it…” Loki said as Tony fell back into the headboard with a sigh. “Of course she’s not going to find out.” 

But Tony’s inner monsters were coming out to play and he quickly doubled over with his hands over his face. He could hear his boss fumbling his words, trying to help him, calm him down, but it seemed so far away and he couldn’t breathe. Tony just groaned. “_Oh my god_ _Loki.”_

“Hey, they’re not going to find out, okay?” Then Tony felt a pair of hands on his shoulders, kneading the tense muscles. “Just relax…it’s gonna be okay.” His boss spoke softly, moving from massaging his shoulders to running small circles on his back. “It’s not like we were going to be married forever, I mean we’ll probably get divorced before you know it, you’ll be fine. _We’ll _be fine.” He leaned in and rested his chin on the male's shoulder, giving him a tight embrace. “Okay?” 

Tony let his hands fall away from his mouth, feeling his anxiety begin to settle down. That was weird. Not even his mother could calm him down from his attacks. With this new feeling, he simply turned to look at his boss. Of all people in the world to talk him out of an anxiety attack, Loki Laufeyson, the biggest stressor in his life, was the only one to successfully do so. Only able to give a slight nod, he just sighed. “Yeah.” He could feel his boss’s hands still running over his back, soothingly. And after a moment, surrounded by quiet, the two moved away like opposite magnets. “Yeah…” He repeated himself, trying to play off what just happened as Loki rose from the bed. He nodded his head, looking out the window. 

“So…” Loki began slowly. “Would you like an Irish cream chai tea?” 

Tony glanced up with a smirk. “Ha, ha.” Then he looked back to his lap, at his hands. After a moment, he nodded a bit. “You know what, you’re right.” He heard the clink of coffee mugs. “Quicky divorce, we’ll be fine. It’s gonna be fine.”

Loki agreed as he prepped their breakfast. “Everything is going to be great.” He reassured, picking up two plates and returning to the bed. “This little wife needs to learn how to cook. I have to keep my husband happy.” He teased lightly, leaving the cup in front of the male, waiting for him to take it. “Don’t want him to leave me for another man… or woman.” 

“Oh my god.” Tony couldn’t help but laugh as he took the coffee cup, so, so grateful for caffeine. He nodded, the cup in one hand, his other reaching for the plate of scones he offered. “Haven’t left you yet, Loki.” After saying this, he turned to set his cup on the nightstand and returned to his boss still holding onto the plate of scones. He tugged a little. “I’ve got it…let go.” He gave a funny smirk and then set it down in his lap. He glanced back up, his brow raised. “You alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m...you know what, I’m gonna go...” Loki said, slowly.

“Where?” 

“Kind of feel like going outside…” He said, hurriedly, and stepping back towards the door. 

Tony’s head just nodded slowly. “Right…” His brow then lifted. “Loki, that’s....that’s the bathroom.” 

“Yeah, I know, I’m just uh….I’m gonna go use the bathroom, and _then_ go outside.” 

“Okay.” Tony nodded sharply, then fell into the headboard again. “Alright…” He sighed. 


	6. Familiar

After he did, indeed, use the bathroom, Loki changed into some sportswear and made his way out of the house. One of the things that made the huge house so secluded was the forest that surrounded it. A run through the forest was exactly what Loki felt like he needed. He just needed to clear his mind, to focus on running rather than everything that was happening all around him.

As he began down a trail, Loki maintained a light jog and took in the nature around him. Until Tony’s words started to echo in his brain.

_‘Haven’t left you yet, Loki.’_

“Yeah, that’s because I fucking threatened you..” Loki growled under his breath, speeding up to an easy run. “You wouldn’t be in this mess if I hadn’t been so selfish.”

_‘Quicky divorce, we’ll be fine.’_

Tony’s voice rang through his mind again. Loki was sprinting now, glaring at the space before him. “You shouldn’t have to do this. You shouldn’t be getting a divorce at twenty-three.” He ground out, panting as he ran through the wilderness. “You don’t deserve this, and it’s all my faul- FUCK!” He cried out, his toe catching a branch and sending him flying to the forest floor. “Goddammit, you’ve got to be kidding me...” He grumbled, sitting up and catching his breath.

He had been checking himself for any injuries when he heard a soft drumming nose. Furrowing his brow, he looked up and peeked through some trees. And _god_, was Loki not expecting the sight that he stumbled upon. Nonna Stark, in the middle of a clearing in the woods, belting Italian operas and dancing aimlessly. And as soon as she spotted Loki, she broke out into a huge grin.

“Loki, my dear!” She cried out, opening her arms to the man. “Come come, _tesoro_, join me!”

“In doing what, exactly?” Loki asked as he got up from the ground and hesitantly approached Tony’s grandmother. This trip had already been… quirky, but this was just downright weird. 

“Releasing our negative energy through the power of song! You simply sing and let go of all of the problems in your life. Your fear, tension, anxieties, it all just goes away. _Dai, dai, andiamo_.” She explained with her typical animated tone and a strong accent. 

_‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding..’_ Loki prayed. He had known that Nonna was a little bit off her rocker, but this was something else entirely. And even if this _was _remotely normal, Loki wasn’t a singer by any means. “Oh, I don’t think my, uhm… negativity works that way.” He stammered, slowly inching his way back towards the trail. “I usually get most of my frustration out through a nice, long yell.” He chuckled nervously, giving the old woman a meek grin.

But, of course, she was having none of it.

“This is the same thing! You’re just yelling creatively.” Nonna explained, having lost none of her enthusiasm. “Come, don’t be shy, _mio caro._ Just sing, you’re so tense, sing anything that comes to you.. From the heart!” She urged, giving Loki little to no room to argue.

Singing? Which would, presumably, lead to dancing? With Tony’s grandmother? In the middle of the woods? There was no way this could end well. Especially not when the only song that Loki could think of in that moment was “S&M” by Rihanna. “Uhm.. alright…” He started to slowly walk along to the beat that was coming from Nonna’s stereo. “Na Na Na Na Na, come on..” He murmured under his breath, doing his best to hide from the elderly woman staring eagerly at him. 

“Yes, yes, louder!” She cheered.

“Na Na Na Na Na come on!” Loki sang openly, feeling like his face was on fire as Nonna began to move with him, leading him in a circle and occasionally throwing in a few Na’s of her own.

“Feels so good being bad… There's no way I'm turning back.” He continued to sing, praying Nonna was too lost in her excitement to pay attention to what he was saying. “Now the pain is for pleasure, 'cause nothing can measure. Love is great, love is fine. Out the box, out of line. The affliction of the feeling leaves me wanting more.” 

Surprisingly enough, Nonna seemed to be going along with it, even going as far as trying to harmonize. And Loki, well… He was really starting to get into it, fully dancing and belting the lyrics. “Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones may break my bones. But chains and whips excite me!”

“Whatchya doin’?”

Loki could hear the cheekiness in Tony’s voice, and this time, he knew he wasn’t imagining it. He spun around, staring wide-eyed at his assistant, who was grinning like an idiot from the trail that Loki had come from.

“Uhm.. I… You’re grandmother wanted me to chant with her…”

Tony couldn’t hold back his laugh. “And so you decided to chant a song about BDSM?”

Loki’s face was as red as a tomato as he shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. “It went with the beat.”

Chuckling, Tony rolled his eyes fondly. “Yeah, I’m sure. Your phone is in town, I was about to go pick it up. You wanna come?”

His eyes lit up and he quickly jogged up to Tony. “Yes, yes, absolutely!” He glanced back at Nonna, still humming softly to herself. “Oh, am I allowed to go?”

“Follow your _percorso della vita, _my dear!” She said, swaying slowly.

“So…” Loki trailed off, wringing his hands, “I _am _allowed to go?”

She laughed a bit and waved her hands. “Yes, go, go.”

And with that, Loki and Tony started back towards the house.

“You’re a _freak_.” Tony extended the word with an inflection as he walked off with a teasing smirk.

“Oh shut up.” Loki huffed, pushing Tony by the shoulder, even though he was smiling fondly.

* * *

When Loki walked into the tiny electronics store that Tony had brought him to, Clint was the last person he had expected to greet them. He looked really different when he was fully clothed. 

“Hey, Clint,” Tony greeted, heading over to him at the checkout counter.

Clint smiled brightly, waving at the pair of them. “Tony, hi! How are you?” 

“Pretty good, did you get that cellphone I ordered?” Tony asked, browsing through the shelves of snack foods.

“Yup, right here.” The blonde replied, pulling out a box and setting it on the counter. “Your fiancé there had the time of his life the other night.” He said, grinning.

Tony chuckled, glancing over at Loki, who was rolling his eyes. “Is that so?” He grinned, wandering over to the taller man. “By the way, for the quiz, I love salt and vinegar chips.” He said, waving a bag of chips in front of Loki’s face. 

Loki just arched a brow, pushing Tony’s hand away. “Good to know?”

“All Pepperidge Farms cookies… Root beer, not a big Coke fan… Oh! And fruit snacks!” Tony rambled on, setting the bag of chips on the counter for Clint to ring up.

“Are you a five-year-old?” Loki chuckled, standing beside him and doing his best to avoid eye contact with Clint. He even flinched a bit when he spoke up.

“Alright, Tony, you’re all set,” Clint said, passing him the purchases. “Hope to see you soon, gorgeous.” He purred, waving to Loki.

The publisher all but dragged Tony out of the store, thanking him when he was handed the new cellphone, already set up with all of his information. “Holy shit, I have 34 messages, fuck! I need a computer, oh my god, I _need_ a computer. Please tell me there’s a computer at your house.” He begged, looking at Tony.

“Unfortunately, no, but there is a place that has one,” Tony answered, taking hold of Loki’s hand and leading him down a different street.

* * *

Loki looked at the bag of coins that Tony had dropped into his hand for a moment before moving his gaze to the man’s face, searching for any sign of this being a joke. Unfortunately, he found none. “Dimes?”

“Dimes.” Tony replied with a cheeky grin, patting Loki on the shoulder. “The computer will give you a warning when time is running out, just feed it more dimes.” 

“How _old_ is this thing?” He began to ask. 

Tony completely zoned out his boss when he spotted a familiar figure through the window. Pepper. Before he'd even instructed his body to do so, Tony found himself rushing towards the door, throwing out a hasty “Be back in a minute.”, to a preoccupied Loki. The bell on the door jingled behind him as he jogged across the street, smiling and calling out Pepper’s name.

Hearing Tony’s short departure, and watching him make his way for the door, Loki was left sitting in front of a computer that had to be at least twenty years old in an Internet cafe, something he didn't even know still existed. He was screwed. With a sigh, Loki just began to do as he was told, inserting a few coins into the machine (he had a hard time actually calling that monstrosity a computer) and waited for it to boot up. He was not expecting, however, the pile of junk to begin making dial-up noises at him, a sound he hadn't heard since his childhood.

“Oh you've got to be kidding me..” He huffed, glaring at the screen before him.

He was probably being stared at by the other three people in the entire place, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Instead, he just tried to be as patient as he could, turning his head to gaze out of the window beside him. And what he found? Well, he hadn’t quite expected that. Tony and Pepper chatting down the street, looking so very happy. Like they...well, as if they belonged together. Loki just sighed, pulled his gaze away and returned to sending emails. But even with the mass of work in front of him, he couldn't pull his mind off of that sight. What the hell was he doing? He was ruining Tony’s life, that's what. He was ruining any chance for Tony to find real love and happiness, any possibility for him to have a normal life. That's what he was doing. Loki couldn't stand to reply to more than about five emails. By that point, he realized he wasn't going to get anything done. Not well, at least. His mind was too… preoccupied. 

* * *

“Tony!” Pepper grinned as she turned over her shoulder at the sound of her name being called. “It’s good to see you again. Where’s Loki?”  
  
Stopping a few feet in front of her, Tony pointed over his shoulder to indicate the small shop he had just parted from. “He lost his phone so we were picking up a new one. How… how are you? It’s been a while.”  
  
“It has, hasn’t it?”  
  
Tony nodded. “Seven whole years.”  
  
Pepper smiled, but Tony knew it was a sad one. “Yes. But I’ve been fine and from the looks of it, you have, too.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m… yeah.” He cleared his throat awkwardly, making her chuckle. God, she was as beautiful as ever.  
  
“New York’s been treating you well?” She prompted.   
  
He resisted the urge to say more than a ‘yes’ again. “It’s great. I love Brooklyn and my job, and Loki.” Maybe making sure to add that last part wasn’t as smart a move as he had thought. Because, there was an old, dull pang inside his chest when he returned eye contact with Pepper as he spoke.  
  
“Sounds like a dream.” Pepper reached out hesitantly, but allowed her hand to rest on his shoulder, and not his chest like she used to. “Tony, you have to know that I am so happy for you.”  
  
Finally getting around to the conversation he was hoping to avoid, Tony sighed. “I know, Pep. Thank you.” His hand came up and squeezed hers before she let it drop to her side again.  
  
“He was a real trooper at the bar.”  
  
Tony laughed, only imagining what they had planned for the male. “Yeah, he accused me of having something to do with it, but I didn’t.” He shrugged, adding, “But he assured me, after the shock wore off, that he had a good time.”  
  
“I should think so,” Pepper agreed, laughing at something that was far funnier to her than Tony.   
  
The conversation then lapsed into silence as they stood looking at each other with soft smiles and curious eyes. It really had been so long that Tony felt as if they had become strangers. As if he was meeting Pepper for the first time, in another life, engaged to be married to his boss and what they shared was only a distant, fond memory. He supposed that was how life worked, though. 

“What are you doing here?” He decided to ask. “Did you move or are you just visiting?”  
  
“Oh, just visiting. I’m headed back to LA in a couple of days, but not before I see my cousins. I was on my way to meet them, actually.”  
  
“Oh! Well, don’t let me keep you.”  
  
Pepper touched his arm and offered one last smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tony.”  
  
“You’re coming?” He stood back, surprised. He didn’t really know why she would, and he wouldn’t really blame her for not going. To Tony, it proved how much he still relied on her, and how she could so easily move on.   
  
“Of course! I wouldn’t miss your wedding.”  
  
Giving a tight nod, suddenly and inexplicably emotional, he waved when she did. “Say hi to your family for me!”  
  
“Will do!” She grinned, turning on her heel.  
  
Then she was gone, disappearing around a corner, and all Tony could do was head back, to fetch Loki. Maybe there was more truth in Tony needing Loki in his life, rather than Loki needing Tony…

Loki had met up with Tony down the street, and he found it hard to even look him in the eyes. Maybe because he knew that, now that he was seeing Tony as his own person and not as some hopelessly devoted assistant, his whole plan was getting harder. Looking into his eyes might just be his breaking point, the motive he'd need to call the whole thing off. 

So, as they walked down the street, he kept his gaze straight ahead. But that didn't stop him from speaking. “It must've been nice for you to see Pepper today…"

Tony’s head snapped up and he looked at Loki for a moment before replying. He was surprised, if for a brief second, by Loki’s choice of conversation. “Oh yea, it was good.” His hands went for their usual resting place, in his pockets. They both continued along the street, having thought their small talk had finished. 

Loki gave a small smile and nodded. “She looked really pretty today.”

“Yeah…” Tony nodded, looking down at his feet as his boss pried, and not very discreetly either. He wanted to ask him why he brought the woman up, but also, kind of liked the idea that he was asking out of jealousy. Was he offended that Tony had already committed all of his life to another, or was he just plain curious, and or absorbing all he could for their interview? He couldn’t read his boss for once. 

Unsure of what he was trying to accomplish here, Loki looked to Tony, trying to appear as casual as possible. Yet, he only found Tony looking strangely back at him, which meant that he wasn’t sure what Loki was getting at, either. Ultimately, he felt that he had the advantage in the conversation.

He could’ve just come right out and told Tony that he knew about the proposal but figured it wouldn’t make a difference, in the end. It wasn’t any of his business. Plus, it wasn’t like it mattered, considering their engagement was based on the necessity of keeping their jobs and not real love. And as they walked down the street, the thought of his own plan made Loki feel like the guiltiest and filthiest person alive. Tony had been ready to get married at one point, to a woman he actually loved, a high school sweetheart, and here was Loki, stealing that away by practically scamming him into a sham of a marriage. Maybe Sif had been right. 

Lok really was a monster… 

“Tony...” Loki began, his voice trembling a bit.

“There you are!” A voice pulled Loki from his dark thoughts, and words.

He spotted Maria and Nonna nearing them. Maria jogged up and took a hold of his hand, instantly shooting Tony a wry grin from over her shoulder.

“We’re stealing him away now!”

“Oh, well Tony can come…” Loki tried to argue, feeling a bit shock at the sudden change in emotions.

“No! It’s wedding stuff, just between us girls.” Nonna interjected, and Loki was tempted to point out that he wasn’t in fact female.

Maria nodded shortly and then wagged her finger at her son. “But you better not wander too far off, your tux fitting is next.”   
  
“Sounds ominous.” Tony joked lightheartedly, giving his mother a soft peck to the cheek. “Better be careful, Loki.”  
  
“I’ll try,” Loki replied dryly. Then, before he could say anything else to Tony, he was whisked away by the Stark women for a fitting.

Tony simply snickered as he watched his mother and grandmother flood Loki with questions. Though he did have to give his boss kudos for being so flexible. Yet, his boss handled many business folk who constantly plagued him with questions, maybe it was all one business deal to him. Tony just shrugged his shoulders, placed his hands into his pockets, and ventured off to a small cafe. 

* * *

It was an old suit, Nonna had informed him. Her husband’s from the late 60’s. They’d tried it on Tony, but he was too big for it, and would instead be wearing his father's. Loki, on the other hand, was nearly the perfect size. All Nonna would have to do was take the jacket in to fit his slimmer waist, as well as adjust the hem on the pants, due to his towering height. Loki, being the man of wealth that he was, usually opted for the top of the line clothing, always fitted and tailored to his exact body measurements. So the prospect of having a random old suit scared him. However, he was surprised to find that the suit, upon placing it over himself, had a Calvin Klein label in the inside. A vintage Klein_?_ He was _very_ impressed. While wearing the garment, Loki liked the vintage look and was very touched that Nonna wanted him to wear the outfit her husband wore on the day of their wedding. A piece of Stark family history. Of course, Maria insisted they spruce it up; shiny shoes, skinny-tie instead of the bow that Loki decided he’d love to see Tony wear, and then a gorgeous green detailed vest to go under the jacket, to complement his eyes. 

  
“You look so handsome,” Maria spoke proudly while Nonna took his measurements.

Loki could only smile and whisper a quiet thank you, suddenly very overwhelmed, realizing how invested he’d gotten into picking things out and organizing the small wedding details. 

“You know... I was thinking if you’d like, that maybe we could head your way for the holidays?” Maria looked over Nonna’s shoulder as the older woman wrapped a measuring tape around him. 

Suddenly, images started flashing before his eyes. A big table covered in food at Thanksgiving, all the chairs around filled with chattering, happy people. Or a living room decorated in reds and greens and golds, a tree set up with colored lights illuminating the presents underneath, and everyone watching some stupid cheerful movie and enjoying each other’s company. Where he’d be sitting, leaning into Tony, comfortable in his warm, toned arms… Each vision featured Maria, Nonna, and even Howard. Him and Tony at the center of it all. A _family_.

“Yeah, that’d be nice…” He found himself saying, impressed that his voice hadn’t croaked. They could come to New York, but where would they go? Tony’s, undoubtedly. Loki’s place? Did he have enough room? Maria would no doubt be more comfortable hosting from her house. “Or maybe we could come to you, too?” 

This made Maria quiet for a moment, standing still halfway behind Loki. 

“That...that would be lovely,” She spoke, her voice cracking making Loki turn his head from the mirror to see her smile fall. “I’d like that _very_ much,” She began nodding after choking the words out, tears pooling in her eyes. Loki was frozen, not at all sure what to say.

  
“Oh, Maria, for gosh sake,” Nonna chided, but her voice wasn’t exactly steady either. “We’ve got work to do!”

  
“I know, I’m just… I’m sorry!” The woman laughed through her tears, and Loki found himself smiling tenderly at her.

  
Nonna began waving to her daughter, after removing the tape measurer from Loki’s waist. “Go make yourself some tea. I’ll finish up here.”

  
After a while, Nonna moved them over to a mirror, forcing Loki to look at himself while she studied her work. Her satisfied hum came just before she hurried away.

  
“I know you probably don’t want to wear women’s jewelry,” She spoke, a little distant, from the side. Jogging back just as quickly as she left. Holding up her steady hand to show him the dainty, gold ring pinched between her fingers, the small diamonds in it sparkling. “It’s a ring that’s been in the family for over 150 years. I thought you could have it, for good luck. I know you and Tony won’t have your own kids, but in the chance that maybe you and Tony adopt, you can pass it down.” She reached out carefully to take Loki’s hand, leaving it in his palm. 

“Oh, it’s beautiful, but I don’t think I should…”

  
Shushing him immediately, she held the ring, now on his hand, close to his face, demanding his attention.

  
“My great-grandfather gave it to my great-grandmother when they got married. They were quite the scandal, you know. He was American and she was Italian… not quite unlike you and Tony. But her family didn’t approve, but don’t you worry, we just adore you.”

  
“Oh, thank you,” His voice soft, barely a whisper, so low that he was certain she wouldn’t hear him.

  
“Her mother hadn’t passed down their family ring, because of the disapproval, so he bought her a new one, this one. It symbolizes love, friendship, and loyalty, and this ring’s been passed down ever since. If Tony was marrying a woman, this would be hers, so it’s only fair I give it to you.”

  
Hearing her words ignited a flame inside Loki and suddenly he saw how wrong everything was.

  
“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t take this.” He stumbled on his words, not sure if he was speaking about the ring or the situation. 

  
“Now, I don’t want to hear that!” Nonna fussed. “Grandmother’s love to give their stuff to their grandchildren.” 

_Oh, god._ She considered him a grandchild already. He _couldn’t_ do this.

“It makes us feel like we’ll still be a part of their lives even after we’re gone. Take it.” She looked to him, one hand holding the ring, the other his other hand. 

Nonna gave a big smile, and the sight made Loki’s throat tighten and his eyes filled with tears.

“Are you alright, dear?”

  
“I…”

  
No, he was not alright, not at all. What was he doing here? What was he doing - he was screwing with Tony’s family so he could stay in the country and keep his job. What kind of fucked-up person did that? Meeting these people, these amazing and wonderful people, who have been nothing but nice, sweet, and generous to him was real. These people who actually care about him and want him to be happy with Tony was very real. The ring on his finger was real. The suit he’s wearing was real. The way he felt in bed with Tony this morning was _definitely_ real.

But this marriage was not real. It was a _lie,_

  
Loki made a sound that he quickly pretended he didn’t, then after spinning the ring on his finger, he brought it up to his heart. He had to tell them. He couldn’t let Tony, nor himself go any farther with this.

  
“I…” Trying again he started, but Nonna’s concerned expression made him trip over his words. “I just –” The words don’t come, suddenly cowardice, for the first time in his life. He forced his mouth to quirk into a semblance of a smile. “I just wanna make sure you have enough time to get Tony’s suit taken care of, too.”

  
Nonna visibly relaxed and her grin made his chest heavy. “Don’t you worry about that,” She wagged her finger gingerly at him, her words accompanied by a tender smile. “Maria and I've got this all sorted. So, let’s get you out of this tux before Tony sees you in it.”

* * *

Loki marched his way to the dock, his jaw clenched to hold back tears that had been accumulating since the start of the day. He just needed to get on the damn boat and get the hell away from… from everything. 

Tony, having been alerted to his presence by the sound of dress shoes pounding against the wood, had gotten up from the nap he was taking and began to untie the boat. “Alright...untie that..” He mumbled.

Little did he know, though, that Loki wasn't waiting for him. He had already reached the front of the boat and wasted no time in pulling down the thruster, sending them flying away from the dock. 

“What the hell?! Mind telling me what the fuck is going on?!” Tony shouted, scrambling to the passenger seat. 

“I needed to get away from everybody!” Loki yelled in response, gaze dead-set on the horizon as he sped through the water. 

“What’s wrong!” His strong voice breaking through the sound of the water and boat motor. 

“Nothing! Just stop talking, please!” 

After clearing the shoreline, and cutting quickly across a rather large expanse of open water, Tony looked over. He tried to keep a calming voice, or in the least bit understanding, but it was hard when he had to yell over everything. 

“Would you mind telling me what’s going on, now?” He glanced between the water and the male at the wheel. “Loki!” He barked, and when there was no response, he did so once more. “Loki!” 

This, seemed to work. 

“I forgot, okay!” 

“You forgot _what_?”

“I forgot what it’s like to have a family!” He looked over at the male, a little distraught. “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen, and I forgot what it felt like to have people love you, and make you breakfast and say ‘Hey! We’d love to come down for the holidays!’And I say, ‘Well, why don’t we come up and see you instead?’- and give you rings - and you have all that here, and you have Pepper, and I’m...I’m just screwing it all up!” 

Finding that the male was done ranting, Tony spoke up. “You’re not screwing it up, I agreed to this!” He gestured with his hand. “You were there, remember?”

“Your family loves you, do you know that?” 

“I know that, yes!” 

“You know that?” 

“Yes!”

“And you’re _still_ willing to put them through this?” 

“They’re not gonna find out!” 

“How do you know they won’t find out?”

Tony was getting angry, he waved his arm up. “Because you said so yourself!” 

“I know, but what if your mother…”

But Tony interjected him, “You said so yourself!” 

“Oh my god!” Loki’s hand rose off the wheel as he stepped away, fingers massaging his temples. “If your mother found out…”

“Whoa! Whoa!” Tony yelled as he jumped seats to grab for the wheel. 

But Loki just kept on in his frantic yelling. “Oh my god! What if _Nonna _finds out?”

“The boat is moving!” Tony scolded the male for being so dense as to stop steering.

“But if Nonna finds out, she’ll have a heart attack!” 

Curling his hands around the wheel until his knuckles turned white, Tony reared his head back. “Stop! It’s going to be fine!” 

“She’s going to have a heart attack!” Loki continued to persist.

“Will you calm down…” Tony began to rebuke, but soon spotted a nearby buoy and called out. “Hold on!” He then turned the wheel sharply to avoid colliding right into it. “Whoa! Whoa!” He missed it just barely. 

Holding on tighter to the wheel, he continued to yell at the male. “I don’t think hijacking a boat, is a proper way to express your frustration! Now…” He sighed as he grew more control over the moving vessel. But, noticed the sudden silence. “Oh, great, now you decide to shut up!” He looked over his shoulder where the man had been but was shocked to see no one on board anymore. He stood, alert. “Loki?”

He then heard behind him a faint. “Anthony!” 

“Loki!” He called out and immediately turned the boat around back towards the buoy. As he sped back, all he could recall in his head was the day they were going to the island, and his boss informing him that he didn’t know how to swim. 

“I can’t swim!” Loki called out, almost mimicking Tony’s thoughts. 

“Loki!” Tony hollered. “To the buoy!” 

“What?” Loki feverishly splashed his arms around in the water, terrified he’d soon no longer manage to keep his head above the choppy water. 

“To the buoy!” He repeated, praying he could be heard over the water and boat engine.

“Okay” Loki’s voice whimpered and he began to push his body through the waves, despite his fears. Soon he was clutching onto the side of the buoy as if it were his last waking breath.

Soon the whir of the boat died down as it glided next to the buoy. Tony shut it off and quickly sprung from his seat and over to the edge. He extended his arm. “Alright! Come on, give me your hand!” He pushed his gut over the edge of the boat to get closer. “Hey! Give me your hand!” He wanted to get the already shivering man out of the water, to avoid serious illness or injury. “Loki! Give me…” He then lightened his dictator-like voice. “Come on,” He started a little softer. “Give me...give me your hand.” 

This seemed to do the trick, and Loki soon let one of his clenched hands from the buoy to Tony. 

“Come on, Come on, I got you.” He instructed from the boat, pulling the male away from the buoy and closer to the boat, where he with seeming ease, lifted the man from the water. “Come on, I got you…” He repeated and lifted the man into his arms and over to the seat on the boat. He immediately went to work digging out blankets and wrapping them around his boss. “What the hell were you thinking? Could’ve got yourself killed.” 

Loki sat wet and shivering, his teeth chattering. “You turned the boat, and made me fall in you jackass.” 

Pulling out more sweaters and blankets, Tony began wrapping the male in more warmth. “Yeah, well, you let go of the steering wheel, Ahab.” 

Tony pulled out another blanket, and as he began to drape it over the male’s shoulders, he heard between chattering teeth. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” 

Giving a short, nod, Tony just got up and sat next to him. “Alright, come here. We need to get you warm.” He grew closer to his boss and put his arm around him. “Come on.” He began to rub small circles into the blankets to start generating some heat. Loki leaned his head into the male’s warm chest. Tony couldn’t do much but keep rubbing, and soon found himself mumbling. “It’s okay...it’s okay…” 

The trip back to the Marina was spent huddled together in silence. Tony wanted to make sure that Loki wouldn’t get too cold, from falling into the water. The man was usually freezing on an average day, so giving him his warmer body to wrap around was the least he could do. Tony didn’t say a word, nor did Loki. Well, besides a few shivers and teeth chattering. When they reached the dock, Tony parted ways from Loki to tie up the boat, but was right back to his side when he was finished. They simply walked up to the house side-by-side, the blanket still tight around Loki. Then, as if they both hadn’t had enough for the day, what with Loki’s freak out and Tony’s own befuddlement, they come to find his dad waiting on the front steps as they walked closer to the house.

Howard looked at them with a serious demeanor, a look Tony knew all too well from his childhood. A look of utter disappointment. “I need to speak with both of you.”

Loki looked to Tony, looking to find answers in his facial expression. Yet, trying to read what his face had to say about this, was more difficult than Loki thought. Tony didn’t want to give any signs to how this was probably going to go. 

Loki looked unsure of what was going on, Tony could clearly tell, but the dread was clear as day on both of them. Having really no other option, they followed Howard around the back of the house and all the way to the barn. When they reached the green door, Howard spoke once more, uttering cryptically. 

“Your mother is never to hear about any of this.”

After those few words, Tony’s brain only took a few short minutes to sort things out. If possible, in that moment he grew even colder to his father than ever before. Because standing in the middle of the barn, in all his smug grinned glory was, Phillip Coulson. 

Loki’s body sagged in defeat.

“Told you I’d check up on you,” Coulson bragged, loud and justly so.

Part of Tony couldn’t believe this, but also a bit of him didn’t even bat an eyelash at his own father’s actions. He should have known he’d do something to mess it all up. To weasel his way into Tony’s life, and start to rearrange things like he was some doll to pose in a dollhouse. In an incredulous state, he turned a suspicious eye on his father. “_What_ did you do?”

“I got a call from Mr. Coulson here, who told me that if you were lying, and he strongly believes that you are, he would send you to prison. So I flew him here.” Howard’s last few words coming out in a casual shrug. 

Sad whiskey brown eyes locked with the same colored pair across from him. Looking at the man, he no longer knew, Tony breathed out, betrayal and a handful of other emotions threatening to make him crack. “_Dad_.”

“Luckily for you,” Coulson interrupted, “Your dear old daddy, negotiated a deal on your behalf. You better listen close, Starky boy, ‘cause this offer is only gonna last a whopping 20 seconds. You’re gonna make a statement admitting that this marriage is a sham or you’re going to prison. You tell the truth, you’re off the hook, and Mr. Laufeyson goes back to Canada.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “So, what’s it gonna be?”

“Well? _Take_ the deal,” Howard cajoles after a moment of silence from the two men. 

Giving both men a long, steely look before he spoke his mind, Tony just replied. “I don’t think so.”

In an instant, he could feel Loki’s eyes on him. He didn’t bother looking into them because he was pretty sure what he’d find there. 

“Don’t be stupid, Anthony.” Howard’s arms were folded over his chest, a look of firm disappointment. Something that _used,_ to make Tony quiver in fear. Now, just sent blood boiling rage through him. 

“You want a statement?” Tony’s eyes were hard, his jaw clenched. He felt Loki’s body tense next to him. “Here’s your statement: I worked for Loki Laufeyson for three years. Six months ago, we started dating. We fell in love. I asked him to marry me and he said yes.” Having told so many in the last few weeks, it’s a lie he almost tricks himself into believing. Tony took hold of Loki by the hand and lead him to the door. Before leaving, he spat. 

“I’ll see you at the wedding.”


	7. Closure

Loki walked slowly into the bedroom while Tony held the door open for him. He looked despondent. 

Tony might look the same, but he couldn’t say for sure if that’s how he felt. With his father in the mix, and the risks they were taking, all just floating around in his head, sparking each and every emotion he had in his whole body. 

“So…” Nothing but a breath following as Loki began to sit. “You sure about this?”

The fact that Loki was even bothering to ask him, was a far cry from how they started this thing.

“Not really,” Tony admitted slowly. They can be honest with each other now, right? They _have_ to be.

“I’m very appreciative, for what you’ve done, but I think…” 

“You’d do the same for me, right?” Tony said plainly. 

Loki stared at him, eyes deep and wide. There’s no yes, no nod. He looks so much like a kicked puppy that it startles Tony’s heart into an uneasy rhythm. This time, he knows _exactly_ why.

When there’s a knock on the door, it shatters his thoughts.

“You,” Nonna said, striding into the room and pointing at Tony, “need to come with me. Tomorrow’s your wedding day.” She grabbed the folded quilt from off the bed and smiled. Getting the grin from her made Tony a little happy to think they at least fooled her into thinking they were in the least bit sleeping together. “You have to give The Baby Maker a rest, it’s tradition.” Tucking the quilt under her arm she wagged her finger at them. “You’ve got your whole lives to be together! Now kiss each other goodnight and let’s go!”

Noona began to leave the room, expecting Tony to follow. Loki watched him, his eyes screaming at Tony.

_Don’t_. 

_Don’t_ do this. 

_Don’t_ put yourself on the line.

_Don’t leave._

Tony didn’t catch it, unlike him when it came to reading his boss and his emotions. He just gave a half-smile, jabbing his finger where his grandmother had disappeared to. 

“You know, if I don’t go, she’s just gonna –”

“Come right back. Yeah.” Loki’s voice was small as he finished Tony’s sentence. 

Tony took a long look at him, cataloging the things in the moment. Not sure if they’d ever be seen again. He couldn't help it, he knew Loki all too well. Taking mental pictures as his eyes scanned these features he'd not seen on his boss till recent. His eyes followed at Loki's furrowed brows, plump lips that were fighting a full-on pout, the dust of stubble on his hard jawline. Did he even see the smallest hint of tears threatening his waterline? No. There wouldn’t. Pushing those thoughts from his head, Tony began to take a step towards the door, the exact opposite of the direction he _wanted _to go, and reached for the knob, though his hand stalled, not able to leave until he got one final confirmation.

“See you in the morning?” 

As it left his lips, he instantly felt his stomach drop. Maybe he didn't want the answer to that...

Loki nodded this time, and to Tony’s surprise, even smiled. However, it doesn’t reach his eyes. Taking the answer for its full value, Tony takes it as his cue to leave. As he closed the door behind him, walked into the living room, he found himself settling on the idea that he'd be sleeping on the couch. With the voices on the TV keeping him company instead of Loki, even if his presence was only a few feet away. Weirdly, the thought made his heart do that weird fluttery thing, again. 

* * *

Picking a barn for his wedding day was never in the realm of possibilities for Loki. This whole ordeal wasn't exactly how he'd pictured his wedding. Granted, the man had never actually ever wanted to get married, nor figure his life would lead him there. Yet, as he stepped into the barn, it was unrecognizable. It was gorgeous, with arched branches strung with softly glowing lights and flowers climbing up all the walls. Plus, hanging lanterns were placed strategically around the altar that Tony stood at, illuminating him and his epic beauty. Tony, who was standing tall and facing forward, his eye fixated on Loki as he started the slow walk to the music, looked pretty damn handsome in a suit. In a regular setting, he’d be glowing in pride that his man was so striking. Yet, this was not normal. Instead, he was, getting married to his assistant, who was willingly throwing his life and reputation away, lying to his family and all of his life-long friends, just to save his career. What a dream wedding, right? 

Tony’s brown eyes glistened as he watched his boss enter through the doors. For a second, he couldn’t seem to find his breath. Their eyes locked and his stomach became an instant whirlwind. Being used to seeing his boss in business attire, Tony didn’t think that there would be much of a difference. Yet, by his reaction to the male walking straight towards him, he was gladly mistaken. Not knowing if the idea that marriage was so important to his family, or if the chance at them being exposed to their scheme was giving him such nerves, Tony resigned to making sure his hands aren’t sweaty as he pulled them from their pockets. His heart was pounding, he didn’t have a clue why, but he couldn’t care less either. He just wanted to marry his boss. He wanted, to marry Loki. 

Loki’s eyes flickered away from Tony long enough to land on the man who would be marrying them, Clint, and then away to observe the rows of guests as they rose, to watch him come forward. 

_Fuck_. His mind was screaming. _I’m_ _going to vomit._

He couldn't do it. Standing in the doorway of the barn, Loki found himself frozen in place, unable to bring himself to enter the room. He knew that, the second he went in there, there was no turning back. They had a deal, though, and if Loki left now, he wouldn't be holding up his end of it. And he wasn't a huge fan of going to prison or being deported. So he took that first step, internally flinching as the music started up. His eyes fell to Nonna who was at the front of the aisle, smiling and offering her arm, eager and happy to walk Loki down the aisle. The closer they got to the altar, the more his body vibrated. His eyes graced Maria, standing by Howard, her expression tender and happy. Then there’s Pepper, as pretty and prim as ever. And then his eyes fall onto Coulson, the man that was following his, and Tony’s every move, forcing about Loki’s bad habit of chewing at his bottom lip. Before he even realized it, he had reached the altar where Tony was waiting for him, grinning like he didn't even realize the massive mistake he was making. It was almost painful for Loki to look at that innocent, selfless smile. That should be directed at someone who deserved it, someone just as selfless and bright. Someone not like Loki. Nonna lets Loki go, taking away the bouquet he held, much to Loki’s dismay, parting to take her seat. Taking hold of Tony’s extended arm, Loki gingerly raised his hand to link their arms, stepping closer to Clint. It was too late, now. They were there, facing Clint, who was prepared to marry them and seal Tony’s fate. 

The intro music softly decrescendos, the guests reseat themselves, and Loki took in a sharp breath. Clint opened his arms to beckon them one more step closer before he used his booming, but a soothing voice to start the ceremony.

“We are gathered here today to give thanks and to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments.”

_Or one of the saddest. _Loki’s thoughts retorted. 

“To give recognition to the beauty, honesty, and unselfish ways of Loki and Tony’s true love, in front of family and friends.”

_Or to recognize the hideous, lying, selfish ways of Loki’s manipulation._

His mind wouldn’t shut up, causing Loki to start wringing his clasped hands, wishing the flowers were still there to occupy them. 

“For it is their family and friends who taught Loki and Tony to love. It is only right that family and friends are all…” The man trails off when he spotted Loki’s hand rise. Quietly, and a little confused, he offered, “Do you have a question?”

“N,no.” Loki began, but then cleared his throat. “No, not a question, but I do have something to say.”

“Loki...” Tony warned under his breath. 

“Can it wait until after?” Clint inquired.

Loki only shook his head. “No, it can’t wait.”

Turning on his heel slowly, trying to put on a brave face though he knew it’d only crumble quickly, he faced the guests. Everyone watching him curiously, some – namely Maria and Nonna – looked on worriedly. Ignoring Tony, because he knew, if he didn’t then he’d lose this moment, lose this one stroke of courage. He’d lose his mother’s voice, in his head, telling him to do the right thing. 

“Hi,” He started, a little weakly, still formulating the words he’d use to explain. “Thanks for coming, first of all. I, uh, have something to say. An announcement. Or a confession, more like.”

“Loki,” Tony whispered yet another warning.

“I’m from Norway,” He explained to the crowd. “With an expired visa and deportation just around the corner.”

The crowd of guests, immediately start rumbling, heads turning to one another, others fixated on Loki, who pressed on.

“And because I didn’t want to leave this country, my home, I forced Tony here, my assistant, to marry me.”

“Loki, _Stop_,” Tony begged once more. 

Loki did not. 

“See, Tony’s always had this incredible work ethic.” He looked directly to Howard, tearful when he added. “Something, I think, he learned from you.” A thick swallow stopped him from continuing for only a second. “And for three years I watched him work harder than anyone else at our company. And I knew that if I threatened to destroy his career, he would… he would do just about anything.” With a wavering voice, he finally was letting it all out. “So I blackmailed him to come here and lie to you. All of you.”

A few more disgruntled noises come from the guests, but a majority are still focused on Loki, trying to put the last few pieces of the puzzle together. 

So, Loki continued. “And I thought it would be easy to watch him do it. But it wasn’t.” He can see the disgruntled and disgusted faces of the crowd, but he only can keep his eyes on a heart-broken Maria. “Turns out it’s not easy to ruin someone’s life once you find out how wonderful they are.” Nodding to the woman he truly admired, he grinned gingerly. “You have a beautiful family. Don’t let this come between you, okay? Please. This is _my_ fault.”

Tony didn’t really know how to fix any of this. Could he even do that now? What had he done? What on earth gave him the right to do any of this? Slowly, Tony tried once more. “Loki…”

Tony’s voice betrayed him, letting on how broken he felt and that was all it for took for Loki. Just that.

Taking one last deep breath, Loki began to face him. “Tony, this was a business deal and you held up your end, but I can’t say the same for myself. Now the deal is off. I’m sorry.”

Stepping away from the altar, he started to trek back down the aisle, stopping by Coulson as he passed. “You’re giving me a ride to the airport,” He ordered swiftly, and then made his exit. 

Running back into the house, he ditched the suit, leaving it to rest on the bed neatly. Beginning to shove clothes back into his bags, he exited with Coulson quickly, ready to go back home, ready to forget. Forget like none of this had ever happened, like he was still at his office, where people hated and feared even his name. Back to his office, where he could hide and push everyone away before they could even get a foot in the door to break down his walls. Back to leaving the country, to hopefully return to his job, where he’d devote his whole life. Back to being alone. 

But, Loki knew, even if he did come back to his job, during this whole lie, Tony got too close and nothing would be the same. 

* * *

Every nerve in Tony's body wanted nothing more than to collapse from the flight from Alaska to New York. His body cried out for a nap, having been up early, filled with nerves and now a seven-hour flight. Yet, there was no time for that. Pushing through the double doors of the office floor, he narrowed his eyes, knowing where his target was. He pressed on, through the rows of cubicles, stopping right in front of Loki himself. Seeing that the businessman before him not even bothered to look up from his papers, supplied more kindling to the fire roaring in Tony. Yet, at the quick glimpse of the other male’s hands trembling, could only make Tony's heart flutter with hope.   
  
"Loki.”  
  
“Why are you panting?” Loki's face was hard and distant, trying to avoid the confrontation.   
  
“Because I’ve been running.”  
  
“Really,” Loki said plainly, trying to appear disinterested and maybe even a hint of being skeptical. "From Alaska?”  
  
“No, from JFK.”   
  
“The airport?"  
  
“Yeah. Well, no. We got caught in traffic like sixty blocks away.”  
  
“I thought you hated flying.”  
  
“I do.” A breath. “I need to talk to you.”  
  
Loki hummed, the sound very clearly forced to sound casual. “Well, I’m afraid I don’t have time to talk; I need to catch the 5:45 to Toronto.” He began to move past Tony. “So, if you’ll excuse me…”  
  
But Tony placed a hand firmly on his chest. “Loki."  
  
“…I need the boxes to go out today…”  
  
“Loki.”  
  
“…I want to make sure everything is—”  
  
“Loki!—Jesus, stop talking!” Tony’s chest heaved as he looked into wide green eyes, his hand fisting the material of Loki's dress shirt. “I gotta say something.”  
  
“Okay.” Loki allowed quietly.  
  
“It’ll only take a sec.”  
  
“Fine. What?”  
  
Without thinking, he started speaking before he actually knew fully what he wanted to say: “Three days ago, I loathed you,” He started off, speaking lowly. “I used to dream about you getting hit by a cab. Or poisoned.”  
  
With a raise of his brow, Loki chimed in. "Lovely.”   
  
“I told you to stop talking.”  
  
Loki looked offended, and Tony could hear the whispers amongst their coworkers. No one ever told Loki to stop talking.   
  
“But then,” Tony continued. “We had our little adventure and things started to change. Like when we kissed. And you told me about your tattoo. Even, when you checked me out when we were naked.”  
  
Bruce, from a cubical near by choked out a whisper. "Naked?”  
  
“I didn’t see anything,” Loki promptly assured him, not talking to anyone in particular.  
  
Tony could only smirk. “Yeah, you did…." He shifted his weight. "But I didn’t realize any of this until I was standing _alone_, under an old barn roof, at the alter - husband-less.” Tony let his hand fall from Loki’s arm and he crossed them over his head. “Now, you can imagine how pissed off I was when it suddenly dawned on me that the guy I’ve fallen in love with is gonna be kicked out of the country." Tony stepped forward, closing the gap that had formed between them. "So, Loki: marry me, because I’d like to date you.”  
  
Loki looked like he was dangerously close to crying. So, instead, the editor tugged on Tony's shirt to pull him close, leaning over to whisper into his ear. “Trust me, you really don’t want to be with me.”  
  
“Yeah,” Tony breathed. “I do.”  
  
“No. Tony, there is a reason I’ve been alone all this time. I’m comfortable that way. And I think it would be worlds easier if we just forgot about everything and I just left.”  
  
Giving way to a few nods, but not looking away, he agreed. Not batting an eyelash, he said. “You’re right. That would be easier.”  
  
Loki bit into his lip. Playing with his fingers, wringing his hands he finally looked at his shoes before hesitantly meeting Tony's gaze. “I’m scared,” He confessed, waterlines glistening.   
  
“Me, too.” Tony sighed. Then, he took that as a cue. He stepped closer, inherently timid, but shook that off. Loki's arms fell from their defensive crossed position to his sides as he felt Tony grow near. Soon their noses brushed together and Tony was carefully cupping Loki's face, closing the gap to give him a kiss.   
  
The entire office collectively gasped.   
  
Loki and Tony were not paying attention to the sudden buzz of the office floor. Too lost in each other, pressing up against the solid heat of each other's body. It was Loki who truly made the first move, keeping the kiss relatively chaste but then turned to small nips to Tony's bottom lip. One of Tony's hands moved to his boss's hip while the other came to drape around his shoulders. When they finally drifted away, Tony just nudged their noses affectionately, pressing another kiss, this one soft and loving to Loki's lips as they began to form a smile.  
  
"Aren’t you supposed to get down on your knee or something to that effect?” Loki quipped.   
  
Tony beamed. “I’m gonna take that as a ‘yes’.”  
  
“Oh,” Loki breathed as Tony moved in once again.  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Their second kiss, a little less chaste, continued to spark a buzz amongst their colleagues. Tony was, however, one more tug to the hair to having his way with Loki in his office, but Bruce's whistle broke them apart. Loki was flushed and Tony was smiling.  
  
“Yeah, Tony, show him who’s boss!”  
  
The editor just rolled his eyes as the office floor cheered and laughed. 


End file.
